Return to Greece
The government of Greece in 1991 granted Anne-Marie and Constantine permission to retrieve over 68 tonnes of their belongings to either keep or sell. These objects had previously been abandoned in Tatoi Palace and Mon Repos Palace when the monarchs were exiled 23 years earlier. Two years later, the couple were allowed to enter Greece again in a private visit on their yacht with their children. They had agreed with the government to avoid touristic and populated areas. When the family stopped for oil at a port in southern Greece, Anne-Marie and Constantine were swarmed with crowds of people and press, who greeted them with cheers and claps. As a result, the Greek government sent naval destroyers and a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. This was called evidence that the pair still held "real influence in Greece". The family were subsequently escorted by members of the military, before being obliged to sail out of Greek maritime borders.
Possibly as a result of their 1993 visit, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou confiscated all property of the exiled royal family, including Tatoi, Mon Repos and Psychico, a farm located on Mount Hymettus. All tangible items that the family had not evacuated in 1991 were also taken from them by the government. Finally, the government stripped the Greek royal family of their Greek citizenship and passport, unless they renounced their dynastic rights, abandoned the name "of Greece" and swore an oath to the republic. Anne-Marie and Constantine called it "the greatest insult in this world for a Greek to be told that he is not a Greek". In addition, they were accused by the Greek government of tampering with the 1974 republic referendum results by officiating the marriage of Pavlos and Marie-Chantal Miller in London as a real princely marriage.
Anne-Marie and Constantine, along with Princess Irene and Princess Katherine, made the decision to take the Greek government to court in April 1996 over the confiscation of their citizenships and properties. The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece agreed with their discrimination claim, however, the Council of State overrode their decision and stated that the removal of their passports was a measure taken that conforms with the constitution of the Third Republic. As a result, the family took Greece to court in the European Court of Human Rights and sued them for €200 million. Months after the initiation of the claim, the court ruled in the royal family's favour in November 2000. The ruling, however, did not require the government to return the family's properties and instead allowed them to be compensated through money. Of the €200 million claim, Anne-Marie and Constantine won €12 million, Irene won €900,000 and Katherine €300,000. Possibly in an attempt to villainise the former monarchs, their payments were taken out of the natural disaster relief fund. In 2003, Constantine used the money they received to establish the Anna-Maria Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation aimed to provide aid to victims of natural disasters, particularly those of floods, earthquakes and bushfires. Since 2019, Anne-Marie has headed the foundation as its president. The family did not receive their citizenship back either. Although originally requesting Spanish citizenships, Anne-Marie eventually requested from her sister, Margrethe II, to have Danish diplomatic passports established in the names of the members of the Greek royal family. She agreed and in their Danish passports, their names were established as "HM Queen Anne-Marie" and "HM King Constantine II".
