Editing Constantine II of Greece (section)

==Restoration of democracy and the referendum==
{{main|Metapolitefsi}}
The [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] led to the downfall of the military regime, and Konstantinos Karamanlis returned from exile to become prime minister. The 1973 republican constitution was regarded as illegitimate, and the new administration issued a decree restoring the 1952 constitution. Constantine expected an invitation to return.<ref name="waiting" /> On 24 July, he declared his "deep satisfaction with the initiative of the armed forces in overthrowing the dictatorial regime" and welcomed the advent of Karamanlis as prime minister.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/25/archives/constantine-declines-to-predict-when-he-will-return-to-greece.html|title=Constantine Declines to Predict When He Will Return to Greece|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=25 July 1974|first=Richard|last=Eder}}</ref>

Following the appointment of a civilian government in November 1974 after the [[1974 Greek legislative election|first post-junta legislative election]], Karamanlis called a [[1974 Greek republic referendum|referendum]], held on 8 December 1974, on whether Greece would restore the monarchy or remain a republic.<ref name=lifo /> Although he had been the leader of the traditionally monarchist right, Karamanlis made no attempt to encourage a vote in favour of restoring the monarch. The king was not allowed by the government to return to Greece to campaign for the restoration of constitutional monarchy. He was only allowed to broadcast to the Greek people from London on television. Analysts claim this was a deliberate act by the government to reduce the possibility of a vote in favour of restoration.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.royalchronicles.gr/1974referendumgreece/ | title=The Referendum | website=The Royal Chronicles | access-date=19 November 2020 | archive-date=1 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101044745/http://www.royalchronicles.gr/1974referendumgreece/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Constantine, speaking from London, said he had made mistakes in the past. He said he would always be supportive of democracy in future and promised that his mother would stay away from the country.<ref name="waiting"/> Local monarchists campaigned on his behalf. The vote to restore the monarchy was only about 31% with most of the support coming from the [[Peloponnese]] region. Almost 69% of the electorate voted against the restoration of the monarchy and for the establishment of a republic.<ref name="waiting"/><ref name=lifo /><ref name=sansi />