Ex-king to Times: People should give Tsipras a chance

The two men had briefly met at an airport lounge three years ago and the former king advised him that “credibility” was needed

The former king of Greece, quite unexpectedly, called on the people to give new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a chance. Speaking to the Times of London, the one-time monarch, Constantine, noted that Greece has suffered enough since 2009.

He said he met Tsipras three years ago at the Athens International Airport’s VIP lounge when they had a brief chat about Greece. Tsipras had asked for the ex-king’s advice as to what the country needed and the man known as King Con to his friends said, in a nutshell – “credibility”.

The former king has permanently returned to Greece after more than 40 years in self-imposed exile.

He lives in a rented villa in a seaside resort in southern Greece and tells the Times that the plumbing at his residence is bad. “It’s always flooding, we have mud all over the basement,” according to the royal that the Times describes as the “most well-connected man in Europe”. Lots of connections, but still can’t get a good plumber.