Editing Constantine II of Greece (section)

===Greek dictatorship of 1967–1974===
{{Main article|Greek junta}}
[[File:Koning Constantijn en koningin Anne-Marie van Griekenland in de kerk, Bestanddeelnr 919-0443 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Constantine as king in 1966, a year before the junta]]
Historians have suspected that Constantine and his mother were interested in a coup d'état from mid-1965 at the latest. US Army Attaché Charles Perkins reported that military right-wing group "Sacred Bond of Greek Officers" (IDEA) "plans for coup and military dictatorship in Greece", that Constantine was aware and that the group was aware that any operation in this direction with the cooperation of the US must have the permission of the king.<ref name="Pelt278">{{cite book | last=Pelt | first=M. | title=Tying Greece to the West: US-West German-Greek Relations 1949–1974 | publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press | series=Studies in 20th & 21st century European history | year=2006 | isbn=978-87-7289-583-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzCZ3duPMbcC&pg=PA278 | access-date=15 January 2023 | page=278}}</ref> According to Charilaos Lagoudakis, a US State Department expert on Greece, by mid-1966 Constantine had already approved a coup plan.<ref name=Pelt278 /> On the other hand, [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] [[C.M. Woodhouse]] rejects as "certainly untrue" source evidence that in his talks with [[Phillips Talbot|Talbot]] Constantine considered establishing a dictatorship, a stance that historian Mogens Pelt attributes to royalist Woodhouse's wish to salvage the king's reputation.<ref>{{cite book | last=Pelt | first=M. | title=Tying Greece to the West: US-West German-Greek Relations 1949–1974 | publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press | series=Studies in 20th & 21st century European history | year=2006 | isbn=978-87-7289-583-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzCZ3duPMbcC&pg=PA277 | access-date=15 January 2023 | page=277, 429, n. 951}}</ref>

A traditionalist, right-wing nationalist group of middle-ranking army officers led by Colonel [[Georgios Papadopoulos|George Papadopoulos]] took action first and staged a [[Greek junta|coup d'état on 21 April]] using the fear of "communist danger" as the main reason for the coup.<ref name=sansi2 /> Tanks rolled through the streets of Athens, rifle shots were heard and military songs were played on the radio until the announcement that "The Hellenic Armed Forces have undertaken the governance of the country" was made public. Some high-ranking politicians were arrested, as well as the commander-in-chief of the army.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://greekreporter.com/2022/04/21/april-21-1967-greek-junta-places-country-in-shackles/|title=April 21, 1967: Military Junta Places Greece in Shackles|first=Philip|last=Chrysopoulos|date=21 April 2022|website=[[Greek Reporter]]}}</ref> The coup leaders met Constantine at his residence in Tatoi at about 7 a.m, which was surrounded by tanks to prevent resistance and the coup seemed to have succeeded bloodlessly. Constantine later recounted that the officers of the tank platoons believed they were carrying out the coup under his orders.<ref name="RWFKing1">TV documentary "[http://www.rwf.gr/episode1-new.php?id=198 ΤΑ ΔΙΚΑ ΜΑΣ 60's – Μέρος 3ο: ΧΑΜΕΝΗ ΑΝΟΙΞΗ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406222452/http://www.rwf.gr/episode1-new.php?id=198 |date=6 April 2008 }}" Stelios Kouloglu</ref> They asked Constantine to swear in the new government. Despite the detained Prime Minister Knellopoulos urging resistance, Constantine compromised with them to avoid bloodshed and in the afternoon swore in a new military government. He did, however, insist on appointing Supreme Court prosecutor [[Konstantinos Kollias]] as prime minister.<ref name=sansi2 /> On 26 April, in his speech on the new regime, he affirmed that "I am sure that with the will of God, with your efforts and above all with the help of the people, the organization of a State of Law, an authentic and healthy democracy".<ref name=lifo /> According to the then-[[List of ambassadors of the United States to Greece|US ambassador to Greece]], [[Phillips Talbot]], Constantine expressed his anger at this situation, revealed to him that he no longer had control of the army and claimed that "incredibly stupid extreme right-wing bastards with control of the tanks are leading Greece to destruction".<ref name="huff">{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.gr/entry/to-stratiotiko-kinema-toe-vasilia-konstantinoe-v-kata-tes-choentas-13-dekemvrioe-1967_gr_63be699ce4b0b2e1506c66d9|title=Το στρατιωτικό κίνημα του Βασιλιά Κωνσταντίνου Β΄ κατά της Χούντας (13 Δεκεμβρίου 1967)|date=11 January 2023|first=Ioannis V.|last=Dascarolis|work=[[HuffPost]]|language=el}}</ref>

From his inauguration as king, Constantine already manifested his disagreements with [[Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Athens]]. With the military dictatorship, he had the opportunity to be removed from the Greek Orthodox Cephaly, in fact it was one of the first measures with which Constantine collaborated with the Junta. On 28 April 1967, Chrysostomos II was retained and was forced to resign after having to sign one of the two versions of the letter brought to him by an official of the royal palace. Finally, [[Ieronymos Kotsonis]] was elected as metropolitan by the junta's and Constantine's proposal on 13 May 1967.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vradini.gr/article/politiki/688771-tews-basilias-kwnstantinos-to-xryso-olympiako-metallio-sth-rwmh-kai-oi-gamoi-toy-me-thn-anna-maria|title=Τέως βασιλιάς Κωνσταντίνος: Το χρυσό Ολυμπιακό μετάλλιο στη Ρώμη και οι γάμοι του|date=15 January 2023|first=Dimitris|last=Kafantaris|work=[[Vradyni]]|language=el}}</ref>