SPECIAL REPORT OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE THE MONARCHY AND STABILITY IN GREECE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00927A004000030003-4
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• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: REPORT

THE MONARCHY AND STABILITY IN GREECE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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5 April 1963
The status of the Greek
monarchy, a major stabilizing
element in Greece since World
War II, i a a'n in
Continuation of the present
trend could widen splits among
the country's democratic forces
and thereby strengthen the
extreme left. As a countermove,
the military might attempt to
impose an authoritarian regime.
Family History
The present dynasty began
with Prince William of the
Danish House of Glucksburg,who
arrived in Athens in March
1863 following the overthrow
of his Bavarian predecessor,
King Otto. The new King reigned
as George I for half a century,
and was a genuinely popular
monarch.
again recalled following a UN-
observed plebiscite in 1946.
His acquiescence in the Metaxes
dictatorship from 1936-41 and
his absence from the country
during the Axis occupation never-
theless damaged the standing
of the monarchy.
The death of George II in
the spring of 1947 brought Paul
and the German-born Frederika
to the throne at a time when
Greece was in the midst of
civil war, with Communist reb-
els occupying much of the
country. In the two years
that followed, the royal couple
did much to revive respect
for the monarchy. Their fre-
quent trips to the front and
their willingness to undergo
both physical hardship and
danger endeared them--partic-
ularly the hardy and vivacious
Frederika--to the Greek people.
By 1950 the old controversy
between republicans and royalists
appeared dead, with only the
far left rejecting the King as
George's son Constantine,
father of the present ruler,
came into conflict both with
the Allies during World War I
and the ambitions of Liberal
Party leader Eleftherios N.
Venizelos. Constantine and
his two oldest sons were
intermittently kings or kings-
in-exile from 19)7 until 1924,
when the country became a re-
public. George II, eldest
brother of the present monarch,
was recalled in 1935, fled the
country before the advancing
German armies in 1941, and was
The royal couple during
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the symbolic head of the
nation.
The Greek constitution
provides for a sovereign with
nominal authority. He is de-
clared to be both "inviolable
and unaccountable" for the
actions of the government. In
times of national crisis or
political impasse, however,
he may step in to form a non-
political or "caretaker" govern-
ment to conduct elections.
In the generally volatile
political climate in Greece,
however, few public actions
by the royal family can be
completely devoid of political
impact. Furthermore, the
personalities of the present
rulers tend to inhibit their
relegation to a completely
non-political role comparable
to that of northern European 2
monarchies. In practice, Paul
and Frederika have demonstrated
throughout their 16-year reign
that they are willing to ex-
ercise all power at their dis-
posal--constitutionally
authorized or not--to secure
governments and governmental
actions friendly to their in-
terests.
King, Queen, and Crown Prince
Several of Paul's actions
in recent years have aroused
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animosity. Although the 61-
year-old King has been described
as enjoying an abundance of
common sense
He alienated
Premier Karamanlis and unneces-
sarily involved himself in
political polemics by selecting
a caretaker government chosen
almost exclusively from among
palace favorites.
The King's demand in 1962
for a 50-percent increase in
funds allocated to the royal
family was particularly ill-
timed, being coincident with
an increase in taxes and of-
ficial consternation over a
cut in US economic aid. Kara-
manlis regards the palace's
demands as "insatiable."
Frederika. The 45-
year-old Queen frequently makes
known her distaste for certain
politicians, has been known to
6X6
Paul and Frederika (front row center) photographed during the festivities
at the wedding of Spain's Juan Carlos and Greek Princess Sofia in 1961.
(Constantine is second from the left in the third row.) UNCLASSIFIED
Additional difficulties
arise from actions byl
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intervene in domestic politics,
and has attempted to influence
foreign affairs--as at the time
of the Cyprus settlement.
Enthusiastic receptions by
villagers in rural Greece appear
to have convinced her that the
entire nation is still solidly
behind the monarchy, and her
attitude on the prerogatives
of the crown has hardened.
The large dowry she de-
manded from the treasury for
her daughter Princess Sofia
and the lavishness of Sofia's
wedding to Spanish Prince Juan
Carlos in 1961 stirred deep
criticism. Frederika's role
in the building of expensive
new palaces and refurbishing
of old ones for the royal
family's use has also come
under heavy fire.
The Queen's Fund, established
during the civil war to support
various welfare projects, is a
chronic irritant. The fund is
financed by a ten-percent tax
on motion picture admissions,
but its use is completely free
of parliamentary scrutiny.
Most well-educated Greeks
also ridicule the Queen's
pretensions to a knowledge of
nuclear physics, a subject of
occasional palace news releases.
The 22-year-old Prince Con-
stantine, too, has irritated
both government and opposition
leaders. Although he has en-
joyed surges of acclaim, as he
did in winning a gold-medal
victory in a 1960 Olympic sailing
event and when he became engaged
to Danish Princess Anne Marie
last January, he occasionally
has plunged into domestic
politics
25X6 Current Problems
In part, the royal family's
troubles are due to changing
conditions in Greece. The out-
standing services of the King
and Queen during the civil
war have become obscured by
time. Moreover, the Greek
people's increased contacts
with Western Europeans and
Americans during the past decade
have contributed to greater
awareness of material benefits
and social and economic changes
in the rest of the Western world.
This awareness in turn has
tended to breed dissatisfaction,
especially among the youth,
with Greece's slow pace of
change and stultified educational
system. The royal family's
tendency to identify its in-
terests with the status quo
rather than with innovation and
progress has fostered the belief--
expressed with increasing
frequency in non-Communist
circles--that the monarchy is
a needless luxury and a polit-
ical anachronism.
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The growing controversy
over the crown stems also from
the deepening sense of frus-
tration felt by the largest of
the nationalist opposition
parties, the Center Union, now
some ten years out of the
government. Leaders of this
slightly left-of-center party
have been at odds with the
monarchy ever since the King
astutely selected Karamanlis
as premier in 1955 and thereby
prevented the dissolution of
the rightist political array
formed by his predecessor,
Marshal Papagos. Many of the
senior Center Union leaders
are aware of King Paul's
personal distaste for them
and resent his occasional re-
fusals to see them for trans-
parently disguised reasons.
These leaders have launched
a vigorous campaign to secure
new elections by denouncing
the 1961 national elections
as fraudulent. Usually critical
of the monarchy's tendency
to influence politics in behalf
of the status quo, they now de-
mand that the King prove his
impartiality by intervening to
force a new vote.
The royal family's relations
with the government are not
much better than with the op-
position. Karamanlis and the
right of center remain basically
pro-monarchy, however, and his
fall from power could pave the
way for a less friendly govern-
ment. The royal family therefore
seems inclined to play along
with Karamanlis for the present.
Meanwhile, the Communist-
dominated party--the United
Democratic Left (EDA) hopes to
exploit the anti-monarchical
trend of public opinion. EDA
may eventually find in this
issue one which can unite it
with the non-Communist left in
a popular front.
Should political stability
deteriorate, especially on issues
concerning the monarchy, the
King might support an author-
itarian military government.
Memories of the 1936 political
crisis, when King George II
backed the establishment of the
Metaxes dictatorship, support
the widely held belief that the
present King might at in like
manner. He is already reported
to be contemplating such a
course. (SECRET NO FOREIGN
DISSEM)
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