BRITISH broadcasters have been criticised for interviewing the son of Greece’s deposed former king and using his now defunct titles – despite the country being a republic for nearly 50 years.
Both Channel 4 News and BBC World News interviewed Pavlos, the former crown prince of Greece, ahead of the Queen’s funeral service on Monday.
He is the third cousin twice removed of the late monarch and his royal titles are legally meaningless in the Hellenic Republic, which removed its last king, Pavlos’s father, by a referendum in 1974.
Greece has no king or prince. Get your facts straight and apologize. You might want kings and queens, we don't. https://t.co/kTIPw6B6uq
— Nikakis (@nikatapi) September 19, 2022
Social media was flooded with complaints about Sunday’s broadcasts, with some accusing producers of lacking “respect” for the nation.
Mic Wright, a journalist and media commentator described the US-based Pavlos as “basically just a very committed cosplayer”.
He added: “Greece is a republic. It has been since December 8, 1974, when the Greek public voted 69% to 31% not to restore the monarchy after a period of military dictatorship.”
One social media user said: “We have no royalty. Our people abolished the monarchy in the 70s. What a self-absorbed Dane thinks he is does not represent the reality.”
Commentator Ash Sarkar said: “Greece is a republic – Pavlos is the Crown Prince of fuck all I'm afraid!”
For the love of everything that is journalistically accurate and for the last time: there is NO such person as a crown prince of Greece. The country is a republic, having abolished monarchy decades ago! https://t.co/0TUckfBSG7
— Nina Reizi (@ninarei) September 18, 2022
While Channel 4 News referred to the former royal, who grew up in exile after his father fled the country following the accension of the right-wing military junta which ruled Greece between 1967 to 1974, simply as the “crown prince”, BBC World News added the honorific “His Royal Highness” before his name when he was introduced on the screen.
He was asked on Channel 4 for his views on whether King Charles would weigh in on the restoration of the Parthenon Marbles – stolen from Greece by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin.
Pavlos replied that he “would love to see” the ancient artefacts restored to their home in Greece.
A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "Prince Pavlos was interviewed as he is a direct relation of the Royal Family who has known the Queen all his life and would be attending her funeral.”
The BBC was approached for comment.
