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Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (Greek: Άννα-Μαρία Βασίλισσα των Ελλήνων) (born August 30, 1946) is the wife of King Constantine II of Greece, who was deposed in referenda in 1973 and in 1974. Her title "Queen of Greece" (or Queen of the Hellenes) is not recognized under the terms of the Constitution of Greece [1]. International precedent is that former holders of certain posts continue to hold their former title as a courtesy title in their lifetime.[2]
Birth and early life
Anne-Marie was born a princess of Denmark at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen. She is the youngest daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark and his wife Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Her godparents were King Christian X of Denmark, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Prince Bertil of Sweden, King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, Queen Mary of Great Britain, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and Princess Dagmar of Denmark.
Anne-Marie is the younger sister of the current Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Anne-Marie was educated at Zahle's School in Denmark from 1952 to 1963. In 1962 she attended the Chatelard School for Girls, an English boarding school outside Montreux in Switzerland. In 1963 and 1964 she attended the Institut Le Mesnil, a Swiss finishing school also in Montreux.
Engagement and marriage
In 1959, at the age of thirteen, Anne-Marie first met her future husband Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, who accompanied his parents King Paul of Greece and Queen Frederika on a state visit to Denmark. They met a second time in Denmark in 1961, when Constantine declared to his parents his intention to marry Anne-Marie. They met again in Athens in May 1962 at the marriage of Constantine's sister Sofia to Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and in 1963 at the centenary celebrations of the Greek monarchy.
Anne-Marie and Constantine were married on September 18, 1964 in the Mitropolis, the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Athens.
As Queen of Greece, Anne-Marie spent much of her time working for a charitable foundation known as "Her Majesty's Fund" which provided assistance to people in rural areas of Greece.
In December 1967 Anne-Marie’s husband King Constantine attempted a counter-coup against the military junta which had been sworn in by himself after a successful coup during the previous April. The counter-coup failed and Anne-Marie and her family had to flee to Italy. They lived for two months in the Greek embassy and then for the next five years in a house in a suburb of Rome.
In 1973 Anne-Marie moved with her family to England. They lived first in Chobham in Surrey. Later they moved to the London suburb of Hampstead where they continue to live today.
Constantine II, Anne-Marie and Alexia
Official status since 1973
In spite of the fact that Constantine and Anne-Marie had gone into exile in 1967, Greece officially remained a monarchy for several years, with Major General Georgios Zoitakis serving as Regent. On June 1, 1973 the self-appointed Prime Minister, General George Papadopoulos, deposed Constantine as king and declared Greece a republic.
In November 1973 Papadopoulos himself was overthrown by General Dimitrios Ioannides. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in August 1974, the military junta collapsed. The new Prime Minister, Constantine Karamanlis, held a referendum on December 8, 1974 in which 68.8% of those who voted approved the abolition of the Greek monarchy.[3] The former Royal Family have questioned the moral legitimacy of the referendum on the grounds that they were not permitted to return to Greece to campaign there. [4]
A new republican Constitution of Greece came into force on June 11, 1975 according to which no titles of distinction are recognized in Greek citizens. From this point onwards most Greeks have ceased to recognize the titles of the former Royal Family. Some Greeks are even offended by Anne-Marie being referred to as "Anne-Marie of Greece", instead imposing upon her the use of her dynastic name and referring to her as "Anna-Maria Glücksburg", a name she has never used for herself.
Anne-Marie continues to be referred to as "Queen Anne-Marie of Greece" (or of the Hellenes) by most royal courts including those of the United Kingdom, [5] Spain, [6] Luxemburg, [7] and Jordan. She is called "Queen Anne-Marie" (without any territorial designation) by the courts of Denmark [8] and Sweden. [9] She is called "former Queen Anne-Marie of Greece" by the court of the Netherlands. [10]
When she travels internationally Anne-Marie uses a Danish diplomatic passport with the name "Anne-Marie de Grecia" (the Spanish form of her name).
Current activities
In 1980 Anne-Marie and Constantine founded the Hellenic College of London, a bilingual school where her own children were educated. She is currently Honorary Chairman of the school.
The Government of Greece did not permit Anne-Marie to return to Greece until 1981 when she was allowed to enter Greek territory for several hours to attend the funeral of her mother-in-law, Queen Frederika. She and her family paid a private visit to Greece in 1993. Since 2003 – when the property dispute between her husband Constantine and the Government of Greece concluded – Anne-Marie has visited Greece numerous times.
In 2003 Anne-Marie and her husband established the Anna-Maria Foundation with the money reimbursed to them by the Government of Greece for the appropriation of their private property. The Foundation provides aid to victims of natural disasters incuding earthquakes and floods in Greece. Anne-Marie serves as President of the Foundation.
On August 14, 2004 Anne-Marie and her husband Constantine visited their former home in Athens, the former Royal Palace now the Presidential Palace, for the first time since 1967. They were received by then President of Greece Costis Stephanopoulos along with other members of the International Olympic Committee (of which Constantine is an honorary member). In December 2004 Constantine, Anne-Marie and their children were again invited to pay a personal private visit by President Stephanopoulos.
Family
Anne-Marie and her husband Constantine have five children:
- Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, born July 10, 1965; married to Carlos Morales Quintana.
- Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, Prince of Denmark, born May 20, 1967; married to Marie-Chantal Miller.
- Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, born October 1, 1969.
- Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, born June 9, 1983.
- Prince Philippos, Prince of Greece and Denmark, born April 26, 1986.
Anne-Marie and her husband Constantine are third cousins: they share King Christian IX of Denmark as a great-great-grandfather in the male line.
Titles and styles
Anne-Marie has used the following titles and styles:
- Her Royal Highness Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark (1946-1964)
- Her Majesty The Queen of Greece (or The Queen of the Hellenes) (1964-1973)
- Her Majesty Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (or Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes) (used outside of Greece, 1973-present)
- Anna-Maria de Grecia (used in Greece, 2003-present) [11]
Notes
- ↑ Article 4, Section 7 of the constitution states, "Titles of nobility or distinction are neither conferred upon nor recognized in Greek citizens." See also the full text.
- ↑ Internationally, certain former office-holders continue to be referred to using their former title as a form of personal courtesy title for their lifetime. Among those this precedent applies to are deposed monarchs who have not abdicated and their spouses, former Presidents of the United States (who continue to be referred to as President and are called Mr President, for example "President Clinton") former US congressmen and senators, and former ambassadors from certain countries. Abdicated monarchs are referred to as "ex-king" or "ex-queen" or by a subsequent title. None of the titles indicate a claim that the holder is still the actual, as opposed to one-time, holder, of a particular office.
- ↑ The actual vote as reported in the New York Times, December 9, 1974, was 2,899,282 votes (68.8%) in favour of establishing a republic, and 1,318,827 votes (31.2%) in favour of re-establishing a monarchy.
- ↑ Greek Royal Family Website
- ↑ Guests at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
- ↑ Guests at the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Asturias
- ↑ Guests at the funeral of Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte
- ↑ The Danish Monarchy biographical page
- ↑ Family gathering in Sofiero
- ↑ Guests at the wedding of the Prince of Orange
- ↑ Not used as a title, rather referred to as such in the Danish passport with which she enters the country.
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