Greece’s erstwhile royal family aims to recover citizenship 50 years after the abolition of the monarchy.

News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 21st December 2024

Members of Greece’s erstwhile royal family have filed for Greek citizenship and legally recognized the country’s republican system of governance, marking a watershed moment 50 years after the monarchy was dissolved, authorities said. In 1994, the late king Constantine II and his family members were stripped of Greek citizenship following a disagreement with the government over previously royal property and charges that he refused to relinquish any claim to the Greek monarchy for his successors. According to Interior Ministry official Athanasios Balerpas, relatives of the late king, who died last year at the age of 82, signed a proclamation on Thursday accepting the republican administration and choosing a new surname, “De Grece” (French for “of Greece”).

However, their decision to register under the family name “De Grece” – which means “of Greece” in French – has irritated left-wing MPs, with one stating it causes “confusion”. “When they say that they are giving up their titles and any future claims [to the throne], by opting for this family name they create confusion,” the party’s spokesperson stated. According to the left-wing Syriza party, “the choice of family name is problematic… because the Greek legal order does not recognise titles and nobilities”. Ancient antiques are on exhibit inside the newly completed Agias Sofias metro station in Thessaloniki, northern Greece.

“A historically pending matter is being resolved,” interior ministry official Balerpas told state-run radio. “Let’s look to the future now. I think it’s a good moment because it closes an account from the past and we can now look forward as a people.”

The Greek monarchy was dissolved by referendum in December 1974, when voters decisively supported a republican constitution, months after a seven-year military dictatorship ended. The royal family spent decades in exile before Constantine returned as a private person in his sixties. Their Greek citizenship was stripped in 1994 amid a court struggle over the old royal estate, which is now controlled by the state.

They had previously declined to take a surname, citing a 1994 law that awarded them the name Glucksburg, which they viewed as too closely related to their German origin and made them appear less properly Greek. Citizenship decisions must now be published in the official government gazette before applicants may apply for state identity cards and Greek passports.
Legislators from centre-left and left-wing opposition parties claimed the former royal family members should not have been allowed to pick their own surname, with some claiming it sounded more like a title than a common surname, but they did not challenge their right to citizenship.