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Embarrassing Reds. Rebuffed, Karamanlis handed in his resignation. Usually known as loyal to the King, he was nevertheless trying to put the royal family in its place, because of widespread feeling in Greece that they have taken a somewhat-too-active part in politics of late. At the same time, Karamanlis was trying to bring about new elections, confident that his National Radical Union, which holds 180 of 300 seats in Parliament, would be victorious. Instead of calling elections, however, King Paul at week's end was attempting to patch up a coalition of present parties in Parliament—the 20 Communist members, out of dislike of Karamanlis, are embarrassingly behind the King.
But the attempt is doomed to failure unless some of Karamanlis' Deputies join the coalition. Karamanlis seemed undisturbed by the royal maneuvering. "They are trying to break up my party," he said scornfully. Snapping one finger across his palm, he added: "But I have got my party like that."
Meanwhile, without a government, the King and Queen quite literally did not know whether to stay in their garden at Tatoi or start packing for their trip. Under the Greek constitution, the monarch cannot leave the country without the consent of his government.