THE KING & THE COUP

After a trip to Athens, TIME Correspondent Israel Shenker last week reported the circumstances surrounding King Constantine's discovery of last month's army coup:

THE King did not put out the light in his bedroom at Tatoi Palace, 16 miles north of Athens, until 2 in the morning of April 21. He was still awake when the telephone rang at 2:15. It was his longtime friend and adviser, Major Michael Arnaoutis, 39. Some men, reported the major, were trying to smash into his house. "Can you call the police?" asked the King. The major replied that he had done so, but that the police had been unable to stop the raiders. Then the connection was broken.

The King's first reaction was that toughs from the Communist-front Lambrakis youth movement had gone on a rampage, were perhaps even attempting a coup. Instinctively, he ordered the guards doubled at Tatoi, telephoned his mother, Queen Frederika, in the nearby Athenian suburb of Psychiko, to gather all the royal kin she could locate into her house. He then telephoned officers in his palace in Athens to send out a force to rescue Arnaoutis and protect the Queen Mother. He ordered the Navy to put to sea as many ships as possible.

At 3 a.m., his phone rang again. This time it was George Rallis, the Minister of Public Order, who had got reports of disorders,, "Mobilize the troops in northern Greece," the King told Rallis. "Have them move down to Athens." Moments later, the King learned that his Premier, Panayotis Kanellopoulos, had been deposed and arrested. Guards then reported that three tanks had taken up positions by the gate of Tatoi Palace. Desperate for information, the King called nearby Tatoi military airbase. The duty officer reported that Tatoi had been seized. "Who signed the orders?" asked the King. "General Pattakos," replied the officer. The King knew Brigadier General Stylianos Pattakos, head of the Athens tank force; it was then that he realized that he faced not a Communist uprising but a rightist military coup.

At 8 a.m., three officers entered the palace and saluted the King. Constantine stood coolly about 10 ft. away, made no gesture to greet them. He knew only General Pattakos. The other two--Colonels George Papadopoulos and Nicholas Makarezos--he did not remember; a King does not usually fraternize with colonels.

Pattakos: Your Majesty, we have saved Greece in the name of Your Majesty and for the good of the country.

Constantine: Who gave you authority to save me and the country? Where are my Premier and my government?

Pattakos: You have no Premier or government.

Constantine: I don't consider that an answer.

Pattakos handed the King a letter from the army chief of staff, Lieut. General Gregorias Spandidakis. It explained that the coup was a necessary action to head off a Communist plot to seize control of Greece.

"How do I know this is from Spandidakis?" demanded Constantine. "His signature may be forged."

"On our military honor, this is authentic," insisted Pattakos.

Then Colonel Papadopoulos spoke for the first time, launching into a lecture about the dangers of Communism and the duty of the King to support the army. The King heard him out and then dismissed the three officers, but only after warning them that there were to be no executions--of political figures or others. He told General Pattakos: "Not a drop of blood is going to be shed, or you'll be held responsible."

In the early afternoon, the King got in his car and drove to the Defense Ministry in Athens, which was the coup's command post and was filled with all manner of prisoners, heavily armed junior officers and the ranking military men of Greece. The King confronted the leaders of the coup. "You are going to get three orders," he told them. "The first order: I want Arnaoutis brought here. Get him! The second order: Get Kanellopoulos and bring him here. The third order: I want to speak to the generals alone."

Obediently, the officers brought in Arnaoutis, who warned the King that anarchy was rampant. Next came Kanellopoulos, who advised the King to try to persuade the officers to return the country to parliamentary rule. Then with Spandidakis and the coup leaders absent, the King met alone with a handful of the highest ranking generals. "The people who are with me, stand up," commanded the King. All the generals rose, but as they and he both knew by now, it was the colonels who had the guns--and the power.

Then the colonels came back in and asked the King to appoint a new government headed by General Spandidakis. Constantine resisted. "You've succeeded in taking over the country," he said. "At least allow the Premier to be a civilian." To Colonel Papadopoulos he said: "You haven't got the faintest idea of how to run a country. All you can do is direct artillery fire." Eventually, the colonels agreed to accept Constantine Kollias, chief prosecutor in the Greek Supreme Court, as Premier. He was summoned to the Defense Ministry. Said Constantine to Kollias: "If you do not accept, my country will be in anarchy." Kollias accepted.

In the late afternoon the King drove home to Tatoi and had his first food since the night before: an apple. In the evening he returned to Athens for the swearing-in of Kollias. But he refused to speak on the radio or endorse the coup in any way. When Papadopoulos produced a speech that the junta wanted the King to deliver to the nation, Constantine bridled. "Stand at attention!" he snapped. "Who gave you the impression I was going to speak? Not only that, it's badly written. Take it back."

At the Cabinet meeting a few days later, Constantine told the colonels: "Don't become arrogant. Don't become bullies. Have only two ideas: First the people. Second, bring back democracy. If you believe in God, have him inside you. If I'm informed and if I'm listened to, I can help you."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.