After 46 years in “exile” the former king of Greece, Constantine II, is moving back to his crisis-hit country.
The monarch was originally forced to flee Athens in December 1967, shortly after the seizure of power by a group of army officers, and was dethroned when Greece became a Republic as a result of a December 1974 referendum where the republican side won 69 per cent of the popular vote and the pro monarchist 31 per cent of the vote.
“He and Anne-Marie have decided to move here permanently,” said a member of Greece’s small circle of royalists, referring to Constantine’s Danish-born wife.
According to reports the move was spurred by soaring property prices in London. It is also known though among the circle of friends of the former king that he had become homesick.
The 73-year-old former Monarch is the first cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William’s godfather Prince Phillip. Earlier this year Constantine sold his north London mansion, his home for the past 30 years, for £9.5 million. By contrast, property prices in Athens have plummeted.
Constantine is believed to have send out scouts to scour the property market with a view to buying a permanent residence in Athens.
The former monarch, who in recent months has been spotted cane in hand walking the streets of Athens, has repeatedly denied political ambitions.

Source: theguardian