Editing Alexander of Greece (section)

===Accession===
The dismissal of Constantine was not unanimously supported by the Entente powers; while France and Britain did nothing to stop Jonnart's actions, the [[Russian provisional government]] officially protested to Paris.<ref>Driault and Lhéritier, pp. 305–307.</ref> [[Petrograd]] demanded that Alexander should not receive the title of king but only that of [[regent]], so as to preserve the rights of the deposed sovereign and the Crown Prince. Russia's protests were brushed aside, and Alexander ascended the Greek throne.<ref>Driault and Lhéritier, p. 306.</ref>
[[File:Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος.jpg|thumb|[[Eleftherios Venizelos]], Greek revolutionary and prime minister, {{circa|1919}}]]
Alexander swore the oath of loyalty to the [[Greek Constitution of 1911|Greek constitution]] on the afternoon of 11 June 1917 in the ballroom of the Royal Palace. Apart from the [[List of archbishops of Athens|Archbishop of Athens]], Theocletus I, who administered the oath, only King Constantine I, Crown Prince George and the king's prime minister, [[Alexandros Zaimis]], attended.<ref name="vdk108">Van der Kiste, pp. 107–108.</ref> There were no festivities.<ref name="vdk107"/> The 23-year-old Alexander had a broken voice and tears in his eyes as he made the solemn declaration.<ref name="vdk108"/> He knew that the Entente and the Venizelists would hold real power and that neither his father nor his brother had renounced their claims to the throne. Constantine had informed his son that he should consider himself a regent, rather than a true monarch.<ref name="vdk107"/>

In the evening, after the ceremony, the royal family decided to leave their palace in Athens for [[Tatoi]], but city residents opposed the exile of their sovereign and crowds formed outside the palace to prevent Constantine and his family from leaving. On 12 June, the former king and his family escaped undetected from their residence by feigning departure from one gate while exiting through another.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 108–109.</ref> At Tatoi, Constantine again impressed upon Alexander that he held the crown in trust only.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 109.</ref> It was the last time that Alexander would be in direct contact with his family.<ref name="vdk113"/> The next day, Constantine, Sophia and all of their children except Alexander arrived at the small port of [[Oropos]] and set off into exile.<ref>Van der Kiste, pp. 110–111.</ref>