Style His Majesty Abolition 1 June 1973 | Formation 27 May 1832 Residence New Royal Palace | |
 | ||
First monarch Otto I
(as King of Greece) Last monarch Constantine II
(as King of the Hellenes) | ||
The Monarchy of Greece (Μοναρχία της Ελλάδας) or Greek Monarchy (Ελληνική Μοναρχία) was the government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Greece from 1832 to 1924 and 1935 to 1973.
Contents
History
The Monarch of Greece was created by the London Conference of 1832 at which the First Hellenic Republic was abolished.
In 1832 Prince Otto of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach was styled Otto I, King of Greece which he reigned for 30 years until he was deposed in 1862.
A head of state referendum was held in 1862 to name a new King. Most of the Greek people wanted Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh to be the new King. He won the referendum by 230,016 against the Duke of Leuchtenberg. Alfred declined to be King, and so did every candidate until Prince William of Denmark of the House of Glücksburg who received six votes. William was elected unanimously by the Greek Assembly, and became George I, King of the Hellenes.
There was a referendum in 1920 to restore Constantine I as monarch, but four years later the Second Hellenic Republic was established and the monarchy was abolished following a referendum in 1924. Then in 1935 the Monarchy was restored after a referendum and a referendum in 1946.
In 1973 the Greek military junta called a referendum in 1973, which abolished the Monarchy for the second time in Greek history. Then in 1974 the Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis called a referendum in 1974 which formally abolished the Monarchy.
Residences
Tatoi was the private residence and 10,000 acre estate outside of Athens originally bought by King George I in the 1870s. The property was seized by the Republic following the 1974 referendum and has long been contentious issue between the former Royal Family and the Greek state.