Richard Quest - HM King Constantine II of Greece

Richard Quest CNN 27/02/2008

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[dagmar1991]

Last night 9 June 2011, at 21:00 hrs on BBC1 there was a program titled "Prince Philip at 90". Prince Philip was asked by the interviewer whether he felt Greek. The answer was "No, I was born in Greece but I am racially Danish".

The significance here is that Mr DeGrecia's grandfather was the brother of Prince Philip's father - both sons of George I.

So, how did Mr DeGrecia turned out "Greek"?

[jiggyjiggy4ever]

Σύντομα ο Κόκος Ντελαγκρέτσια θα είναι στην Ελλάδα για να πλασάρει το νέο προϊόν γκλυκσμπούρκερ – είδος χαμπούργκερ της πατρίδος του.

[friedmahooga]

@dagmar1991 Bit like the Dutch Royals. William III married Emma (a German), who produced Wilhelmina who married Hendrik (a German), who produced Juliana who married Bernhard (a German), who produced the current Queen Beatrix who married Claus (yet another German)!

I reckon that makes the current heir, Willem-Alexander pure German. Doubt that there's a single drop of Dutch blood in him. It always amuses me to see Dutch people's reaction when I point this out as they traditionally dislike Germans.

[dagmar1991]

@dimboukas Campbell, whatever her racial background, as a British citizen has the indisputable right to become a Member of Parliament in a democratic country where all Members of Parliament are elected. The keyword is "elected". Mr DG forfeited such a right by refusing to provide a surname. Even surnames such as Παύλου, Κωνσταντίνου, or Γεωγίου were below him. Prince Philip, a member of the same family, gave the surname of his uncle, Mountbatten, when he applied for British Citizenship.

[dagmar1991]

@dimboukas If you were born in China by Greek parents, who happened to hold Chinese passports, would it make you Chinese? It would have given you the right to Chinese citizenship, ofcourse. However, such a privilege would have been withdrawn if you were to refuse to provide a surname in your passport application.

In saying that, I repeat that Mr DG's removal from the scene was unrelated to his Danish/German/Russian origins.

[dagmar1991]

@dimboukas "Greek Orthodoxy" couldn't be further removed from Ancient Greek ideals!

Posing in Albanian skirts is hardly a gesture of acceptance of Greek culture!

Having a surname is part of Greek culture; yet he rejected such a suggestion, on grounds that it was against his Danish family's tradition. Compare this with George V's gesture during WW1 who changed the Germanic sounding Saxe-Coburg Gotha to the more English Windsor.

[dagmar1991]

@dimboukas QEII’s family connections with Britain are traced to pre-Norman times – a century before the Battle of Hastings. The “Normans”, who invaded in 1066, were the “Northmen” who were given what eventually became Normandy, in order to leave the French in peace. They were racially related to the Anglo-Saxons. William’s and Harold’s families were closely related – hence W’s claim to the throne of England. They all descended from the “Barbarians” who invaded Europe, 5th century onwards.

[dagmar1991]

@dimboukas By “coat of arms”, I take it that you mean Code of Arms – which anyone can create. Those who find it impressive are simply people who are impressed by that. Mr DeGrecia’s family have chosen symbols that would “connect” them with the mythical heroes of the country on which they were imposed.

As a rule, those who are insecure with their status in the present time, try to create a myth of continuity with the past.

However, Mr DeGrecia’s race was never an issue.

[jorham1]

Den eimai ellinas,allà echo synithisei na agapao tin ellada,omos ematha ta megala elattomata tou ellina...O proin vasilias einai anthropos,prota ap'ola...so respect!oi ellines psachnoun panda enochous gia ta lathi pou kanoun oi idioi....psifizoun efkoles politikes syntages,akoun ta propaganda kai metà psachnoun enocho tou kakou!panta ta idia...

[dimboukas]

@dagmar1991 This is silly. His coat of arms include the Greek coat of arms, supported by Heracles etc. He was born in Greece into the Greek royal family; he has posed wearing the Greek fustanella; he was born Greek Orthodox. The fact that he may be racially Danish, doesn't mean he is not Greek at all. It's not all race after all.

Naomi Campbell is racially African; isn't she British? Then, Elizabeth must be German.

I am not a royalist but I can't understand his stance.

[dagmar1991]

@cavandishsquare It is a phonetic form of Greek, for Greek people who are ashamed of their spelling in Greek. The first thing they do when they find themselves without an argument, on YouTube, is to "correct" each other's Greek. So, by writing in this form they "protect" their ignorance

[dagmar1991]

@iraniasil Firstly: What you "love" is NOT the "Greek royal family" because there has never been one. What you "love" is a gang of halfcasts who were imposed on the Greek people as soon as they managed to liberate themselves from the Turks. They were imposed on them by the very people you claim to hate. The same people also imposed on you a puppet king, after you overthrew him in the 1950s, in order to look after their interests. This created extremism, resulting in the present situation.