OBITUARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18760, 13 January 1923, Page 9

OBITUARY.

EX-KING CONSTANTINE. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright PARIS, January 11. It is reported that ex-King Constantine died suddenly at Palermo. —A. and N.Z. Cable. LONDON, January 11. Constantine died of cerebral haemorrhage. Ho had been suffering from arterial oclercsis, but the end was not expected. He had arranged to settle in Florence shortly. Queen Sophia and her three daughters were present at his death.— Reuter. CONSTANTINE’S CAREER. TWICE LOST HIS THRONE. Constantine, who was born on August 2. 1868. was the sot> of Geo. I. He married Sophia, a sister of the ex-Kaiser, on October 27, IR F 9, and came to the throne, of Greece on March 1, 1913, when bis father was assassinated. Greece was then recovering from (he Balkan Wars. During the war of 1914-1918 his German sympathies were all too apparent, and events culminated in June. 1917, by his being forced to abandon the throne to his second son, Alexander. Tho administration of M. Venizelos, however made itself obnoxious to the Hreefc people. King Alexander died towards the end of 1920. as the result of a bite from a

monkey, and the plebiscite on December 5 resulted in the recall of Constantine, who returned to Greece on December 19. .The rout of the Greek forces in Asia Minor in September of last vear led to revolution at home, and Constantine’s abdication was an>imi need from Athens on September 25. Writing of this period of the ex-King’s life, the Manchester Guardian’s correspondent said :—“The return of Constantine

coincided vrith the immediate loss of ’ all friendship from the French and a cooling off of that of the British. Meantime French and Italians alike supported materially and morallv the Turk. The Greek Suc-

cesses in Anatolia early in 1921 led to a frenzied outburst of enthusiasm, which, with characteristic megalomania. wos combined by a pro-German and anti-French propaganda of the most virulent type. Then came the hold-up of the Greek advance in Anatolia and a stalemate. Where was

Constantine, the slaver of Bulgars, the, hero of Salonika and Kresna? ,

“The people began to ho nneasv. Their King. Constantine XII of Byzantium, wag not at the head o f his armies, but at home in his palace. So. ell reluctant, he wag sent to the front at Smyrna hut carefully kept by the generals from contributing his advice to the conference of the Genera! Staff, for Jt was realised that he was' no longer the conqueror of 1912. and it was feared he might, be the defeated prince of 189 7 again. So hack he went to Athena and the people were given sops wherewith to maintain the already fading enthusiasm for the Royal Court. But Constantine had seen enough to realise that not even Smyrna could be held. “But his trouble was how to break this news to the people, who would not abate one tittle of their claims to the territory awarded to them. He was willing to bargain, hut nothing resulted, and he made his wild bid to force the hands of the Allies by concentrating before Constantinople. It was a bid for popularity in Greece. And popularity was badly reeded, for as early as May on'o could hardly find a Greek was was not. ready to recall Venizelos. Furthermore, there was a sinister side to this move in Thrace. Five hundred thousand troops were saved from what was already realised as the coming debacle in Anatolia. The months of stalemate had had their effect, and the army was rotten to the core. Then the capable Commander-in-Chief Papoulas was replaced by an eccentric. Hadjianestis. Thus bad generals, bad officers, and bad morale made the army an easy grey for the Turk. “But a soldier king dies hard, and. whatever his private opinion, Constantine still posed ns a hopeful Emperor of Byzantium. Then the Turk struck. The army melted away and Ihe warrior long was left a prince and potentate with no power. Stiil searching for the fragments of an army, ■ he spoke up to the last moment of “joining his troops in Thrace.” It was the despairing' cry of a fallen idol. Thus another kinglet has come crashing to earth, a man who had neither ability nor sincerify, who thought first of himself and last only of .his adented country. But where, as in the Balkans, kingship is a trade, can one expect a king to resign his directorship and its emoluments for any merely ethical reason?’’ An American interviewer describes Constantine thus: —“The ex-King received me in the garden. He sat at a little rustic table located half-way down the middle of a long, shady avenue of elm trees. He is a hi? man, wide-shouldered, with a heavyface, a heavy jaw, and close-cropped, bulletshaped head. His bald forehead was wrinkled, his face white and tired, with, weary, blackened patches under his mild blue eyes The upturned military moustachios were not waxed, and scraggy. Ha was bareheaded and wore a grey tweed business suit. But when, after dismissing the aide-de-camp, he opened the conversation, he spoke cheerfully of the collapse of his throne.

“Constantine’s English was accentless; ho spoke low, in nervous, ejaculatory, explosive sentences, using much American slang. ‘I hope the Revolutionary army thoroughly defeats the Turks,’ he said. ‘They must. The Turks are still the same uncivilised nomads who invaded Europe 500 years ago. They have not produced any culture or art. If they get T Jhracc they will be a constant menace to Western Europe. Their policy is the extermination of Greeks. We can and must defeat them in order to save the Greek nation.’ ■ ‘How does it feel not to be a king any more?’ I asked him.

“ ‘Between you and me and the gatepost I don’t care anything about not being a king. Being a king is no fun these days. It’s' a lot of hard work. The position is a very difficult one. I now want to live the life of a n’ain country gentleman.’ “The conversation had lasted nn hour. The aide-de-camp suddenly appeared and halted -at attention’ 20 paces distant, and saluted. The ex-king beckoned him to approach. The Queen had finished her coffee, and visitor; were awaiting on the terrace. Prince Glukosbourg rose, a tall, bulky figure. „c shook hands cordially as he i hanked mo foi* my bon voyage wishes on his trip to Italy. - ’

- DEATH UNEXPECTED. ROME, January 12. (Received Jan. 12, at 7.35 p.m.) Constantine’s death was not expected. He had arranged to travel to Naples, where he was to be guest of the Duke of Aosta. He took a bath at eight o’clock, immediately became ill, and died before the doctors arrived at the Villa Igea Hotel where the ex-King and Queen were staying. It is believed that his end was' hastened by the shock of the execution of his former Ministers, from which he never recovered. —-A. and N.Z, Cable.