Former Greek royal family expresses 'deep emotion' after regaining citizenship
Members of Greece’s former royal family have expressed “deep emotion” after being granted Greek citizenship, ending a decades-old dispute with the country's government
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Members of Greece’s former royal family expressed “deep emotion” Monday at a decision to reinstate their Greek citizenship, ending a decades-old dispute with the country’s government.
Greece abolished the monarchy in a 1974 referendum and the former royal family was stripped of its citizenship two decades later during a dispute over the former royal estate that passed to state control.
In a decision published in the government gazette, dated Friday, citizenship was granted to 10 members of the former royal family. They include the five children of the late King Constantine II and former Queen Anne-Marie as well as to five of their grandchildren.
“It is with deep emotion that, after 30 years, we hold the Greek citizenship again. The law of 1994 deprived us of our citizenship, rendering us stateless with all that this entails in terms of individual rights and great emotional distress,” the former royal family said in a statement in Greek and English.
