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Philippos, left, Pavlos, center, and Nikolaos, right, sons of former king Constantine II stand behind their father coffin as they arrive at the Metropolitan cathedral for his funeral in Athens, Jan. 16, 2023. [Petros Giannakouris\/AP Photo]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Members of Greece\u2019s former royal family have regained Greek citizenship and formally acknowledged the country\u2019s republican system of government, in a landmark move 50 years after the monarchy was abolished.<\/p>\n
The late king Constantine II and his family members were stripped of Greek citizenship in 1994 in a dispute with the government over formerly royal property and over claims that he refused to renounce any right to the Greek throne for his descendants.<\/p>\n
Interior Ministry official Athanasios Balerpas said that relatives of the late king, who died last year at the age of 82, signed a declaration Thursday acknowledging the republican government and adopting a new surname, De Grece \u2013 French for \u201cof Greece.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA historically pending matter is being resolved,\u201d Balerpas told state-run radio. \u201cLet\u2019s look to the future now. I think it\u2019s a good moment because it closes an account from the past and we can now look forward as a people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision on citizenship was published in the government gazette on Friday (\u0392 7035\/2024), meaning the De Greces can apply for state identity cards and Greek passports.<\/p>\n
The decision covers all five children of Constantine II and former queen Anne-Marie \u2013 Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos \u2013 as well as five of the late king\u2019s grandchildren.<\/p>\n
The Greek monarchy was abolished by referendum in December 1974, when voters overwhelmingly backed a republican constitution, months after the fall of a seven-year military dictatorship.<\/p>\n
Members of the royal family lived in exile for decades before Constantine returned as a private citizen in his seventies. They were stripped of their Greek citizenship in 1994 during a legal battle over the former royal estate, which is now state-owned.<\/p>\n
They had previously refused to adopt a surname, distancing themselves from the name Gl\u00fccksburg, assigned in a 1994 law, which they saw as linking them too closely to their German ancestry and making them seem less legitimately Greek.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers from center-left and left-wing opposition parties argued that the former royal family members should not have been permitted to choose their own surname but did not oppose their right to citizenship.<\/p>\n
Some lawmakers from center-left and left-wing opposition parties objected to the surname chosen by the former royal family members, arguing it sounds like a title rather than a standard surname, but did not oppose their right to citizenship. [AP, Kathimerini]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n