Greece's last king Constantine II dead at 82

Greece's former king Constantine II, who reigned before the country became a republic in 1974, died in Athens on Tuesday aged 82, Greek public broadcaster ERT announced.

ERT said Constantine, a cousin of British monarch King Charles III, died "of a stroke". He was admitted to an Athens hospital last week with breathing problems, Greek media reported.

He was the last member of a century-long dynasty in power when a brutal army dictatorship seized control of the country in 1967.

Eight months after the colonels had seized power, Constantine organised a military counter-coup that failed.

Constantine fled to Rome with the royal family, and they moved to London in 1974.

When democracy was restored that year, nearly 70 per cent of Greeks voted for the abolition of the monarchy in a referendum, ending a dynasty begun by Constantine's Danish-born great-grandfather George I in 1863.

In 2008, an opinion poll found fewer than 12 per cent of Greeks favoured a return to a constitutional monarchy. Over 43 per cent blamed him for the coming of the junta.