He remained the head of state in exile until 1 June 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy. Shortly before the end of the war, Nicholas, his wife and children were executed by the Bolsheviks. A law passed in 1994 stripped him of his Greek citizenship, passport, and property. The new King reigned from the time of Greek civil war until his death in 1964, and was succeeded by his son, Constantine II. [citation needed] Further, the king was obsessive about avoiding "bloodshed" even where the junta would be the attacker. On 3 November 1935, the official tally showed that 98% of the votes supported the restoration of the monarchy. As male-line descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark, members of the dynasty bear the title of Prince or Princess of Denmark and thus are traditionally referred to as "Princes" or "Princesses of Greece and Denmark".[10]. [16], As of 2013, Constantine II has returned to reside in Greece.[17]. From the outset, the relationship between Constantine and the regime of the colonels was an uneasy one. [3] He was strongly discouraged from returning to Greece, and he did not return until February 1981, when the government only allowed him to return for a few hours, to attend the funeral of his mother, Queen Frederica, in the family cemetery of the former Royal Palace at Tatoi. [citation needed]. She retired to the countryside where she lived an almost reclusive life. Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign soon became controversial: Constantine's involvement in the Apostasia of July 1965 created unrest among sections of the population and aggravated the ongoing political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967. Constantine stated, "I am sure I shall go back the way my ancestors did." [6], To her family, she was known as Freddie.[7]. The shield is surmounted by two figures of Heracles,[9] similar to the "wild men" of the Coat of arms of Denmark. [1], After the overthrow in 1862 of the first king of the independent Greek state, Otto of Bavaria, a plebiscite in Greece was initiated on 19 November 1862,[note 1] with the results announced in February the following year,[note 2] in support of adopting Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom, later Duke of Edinburgh, to reign as king of the country. King George died in 1947, and his brother became King Paul, making Constantine crown prince. Frederica of Hanover (Friederike Luise Thyra Victoria Margarita Sophia Olga Cecilia Isabella Christa; Greek: Φρειδερίκη της Ελλάδας; pronounced [friðeˈrici ˈtis eˈlaðas]; 18 April 1917 – 6 February 1981) was Queen consort of Greece from 1947 until 1964 as the wife of King Paul, thereafter Queen mother. 6. Constantine later recounted that the officers of the tank platoons believed they were carrying out the coup under his orders. With Constantine abroad, Colonel George Papadopoulos illegally appointed himself prime-minister and General George Zoitakis as regent. This was consequently also the arms of Denmark when the Danish prince William accepted the Greek throne as King George I. In 1993, Constantine visited Greece, but faced with government insecurity, he was asked to leave. Over the next year the junta sent intermediaries to the king to negotiate the terms on which he might return to Greece. She actively politicked against the election of Alexander Papagos. Although Carl XVI Gustaf is not a descendant of Christian IX; however, he descends on his maternal side from the parents of Christian IX through Christian IX's elder brother, Friedrich. The Hereditary Prince and Princess returned to their villa in Psychiko. He is referred to as ο βασιλιάς ("the king") by Greek monarchists. Over the years, numerous large family reunions were held at Fredensborg Palace in Denmark with children, in-laws, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. [8] Left-wing politicians in Greece repeatedly used the fact that the Kaiser was her grandfather, and that she had brothers who were members of the SS, as propaganda against her. In exile, King George II and the rest of the Greek Royal Family settled in South Africa. [3] Constantine's older sister Sofia is the former queen consort of Spain, while his younger sister, Princess Irene, has not married. George Papadopoulos then declared himself president, but in November there was a coup within the regime and he was replaced by General Phaidon Ghizikis, who was a front for the new military strongman, Dimitrios Ioannides.