# Crown Prince of Greece

The Crown Prince of Greece (Greek: Διάδοχος, romanized: Diadochos) is the heir apparent or presumptive to the defunct throne of Greece. Since the abolition of the Greek monarchy by the then-ruling military regime on 1 June 1973, it is merely considered a courtesy title.

## Title

Neither the constitution of 1844 or 1864, which served as the basis for other fundamental laws of the Kingdom of Greece, recognised titles of nobility. On the contrary, they prohibited even the sovereign from conferring such titles.
As a result, the heir apparent was usually referred to simply as "the diadochos" by virtue of his function, rather than as a title. The word diadochos (διάδοχος) simply means "successor, he who collects the estate". This is a deverbal of διαδέχομαι (diadéchomai), "receive by succession", and has been used since the Archaic period for heirs-apparent. The most famous bearers of the title were the Diadochi, the "Successors" of Alexander the Great, who contended with each other for the spoils of his empire.
Only one crown prince, the future Constantine I, bore a separate title of nobility, that of "Duke of Sparta." It was created soon after his birth in 1868. However, that caused a political scandal as many viewed it as a violation of the constitution. In the end, the creation was ultimately ratified by the Greek parliament, while the title's use within Greece continued to be highly restricted.

## Succession

The London Conference of 1832, established a semi-salic line of succession which would pass the crown to Otto I's descendants, or his younger brothers, should he have no issue. It was also decided that in no case would the crowns of Greece and Bavaria be joined in a personal union.
The continued inability of Otto and Queen Amalia to have children was a permanent threat to the stability of Otto's throne: the 1844 constitution insisted that Otto's successor had to be Orthodox, but as the king was childless, the only possible heirs were his younger brothers, Luitpold and Adalbert. The staunch Catholicism of the Wittelsbachs complicated matters, as Luitpold refused to convert and Adalbert married Infanta Amalia of Spain. The sons of Adalbert, and especially the eldest, Ludwig Ferdinand, were now considered the most likely candidates, but due to the issue of religion, no definite arrangements were ever made prior to Otto's deposition in 1862.
Since the establishment of the constitution of 1952, the daughters of the sovereign came after their brothers in the order of succession to the throne.
When Constantine II succeeded Paul I in 1964, his sister became heir presumptive according to the 1952 Constitution but that caused a constitutional crisis because his father's cousin Prince Peter who declared himself heir to the throne on the pretext that female dynasts had been unlawfully granted succession rights, but Prince Peter lost his succession rights by marrying Irina Ovtchinnikova in 1939. Also at the time Constantine's older sister Princess Sophia married the future Juan Carlos I in 1962 and cousin Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth II in 1947 renounced their rights for their descendants.

## Personal standard

* 1914 version
* 1935 version

## List of heirs to the Greek throne

| Monarch | Heir | Relationship to monarch | Became heir; reason | Ceased to be heir; reason | Next in succession, relation to heir |
| Otto I | Luitpold Karl | Younger brother | 27 May 1832; Formation of Kingdom of Greece | 18 March 1844; Non-Orthodox dynasts excluded from succession | Adalbert Wilhelm, brother |
| None, 1844–1862 |||||
| None 1862–1863 ||||||
| George I | None, 1863–1868 | None, 1863–1868 | None, 1863–1868 | None, 1863–1868 | None, 1863–1868 |
| George I | Crown Prince Constantine | Son | 2 August 1868 Born | 18 March 1913 Father assassinated, became king | None, 1868–1869 |
| George I | Crown Prince Constantine | Son | 2 August 1868 Born | 18 March 1913 Father assassinated, became king | Prince George, 1869–1890, brother |
| George I | Crown Prince Constantine | Son | 2 August 1868 Born | 18 March 1913 Father assassinated, became king | Prince George, 1890–1913, son |
| Constantine I | Crown Prince George | Son | 18 March 1913 Father became king | 11 June 1917 Father deposed, younger brother selected as king | Prince Alexander, brother |
| Alexander I | None, 1917–1920 | None, 1917–1920 | None, 1917–1920 | None, 1917–1920 | None, 1917–1920 |
| Constantine I | Crown Prince George | Son | 19 December 1920 Father restored as king by referendum | 27 September 1922 Father abdicated, became king | Prince Paul, brother |
| George II | Prince Paul | Brother | 27 September 1922 Brother became king | 25 March 1924 Monarchy abolished, confirmed by referendum | Prince George, uncle |
| None 1924–1935 ||||||
| George II | Prince Paul | Brother | 25 November 1935 Monarchy restored by referendum | 1 April 1947 Brother died, became king | Prince George, 1935–1940, uncle |
| George II | Prince Paul | Brother | 25 November 1935 Monarchy restored by referendum | 1 April 1947 Brother died, became king | Prince Constantine, 1940–1947, son |
| Paul I | Crown Prince Constantine | Son | 1 April 1947 Father became king | 6 March 1964 Father died, became king | Prince George, 1947–1952, granduncle |
| Paul I | Crown Prince Constantine | Son | 1 April 1947 Father became king | 6 March 1964 Father died, became king | Princess Sophia, 1952–1962, sister |
| Paul I | Crown Prince Constantine | Son | 1 April 1947 Father became king | 6 March 1964 Father died, became king | Princess Irene, 1962–1964, sister |
| Constantine II | Princess Irene | Sister | 6 March 1964 Brother became king | 10 July 1965 Daughter born to king | Prince Michael, 1964–1965, first cousin once-removed |
| Constantine II | Princess Irene | Sister | 6 March 1964 Brother became king | 10 July 1965 Daughter born to king | None, 1965 |
| Constantine II | Princess Alexia | Daughter | 10 July 1965 Born | 20 May 1967 Son born to king | Princess Irene, aunt |
| Constantine II | Crown Prince Pavlos | Son | 20 May 1967 Born | 1 June 1973 Monarchy abolished, confirmed by 1973 and 1974 referenda | Princess Alexia, 1967–1969, sister |
| Constantine II | Crown Prince Pavlos | Son | 20 May 1967 Born | 1 June 1973 Monarchy abolished, confirmed by 1973 and 1974 referenda | Prince Nikolaos, 1969–1973, brother |