• King Constantine II was the final representative of a century-long dynasty.
• King Constantine had been battling illness recently.
• He helped Greece win its first gold medal in almost 50 years at the 1960 Olympics.

When a harsh army dictatorship seized power in Greece in 1967, Constantine II, the country’s former king, was the final representative of a century-long dynasty. He passed away on Tuesday at the age of 82.

Constantine, a member of the royal Gluecksburg line of Denmark, took the throne in 1964 at the age of 23, in the midst of one of the most upheaval-filled eras in Greek modern history.

At the age of less than a year, Constantine’s family fled to Egypt from Greece to avoid the Nazi invasion, which Greece remained under the control of until 1944. He was six years old when they arrived back in a ruined nation.

He participated in a three-person sailing crew as the crown prince and helped Greece win its first gold medal in almost 50 years at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Constantine, who continued to refer to himself as “king,” had been battling illness recently.

At the age of less than a year, Constantine’s family fled to Egypt from Greece to avoid the Nazi invasion, which Greece remained under the control of until 1944. He was six years old when they arrived back in a ruined nation.

He participated in a three-person sailing crew as the crown prince and helped Greece win its first gold medal in almost 50 years at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

The former king served as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee beginning in 1974. He was a cousin of British monarch King Charles III, the godfather of his heir Prince William, and the brother of Sofia, the mother of King Felipe VI of Spain.

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