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In the wake of the coup, which had been suppressed without bloodshed, the junta arrested a score of leading politicians who were suspected of conspiring with the King, put old George Papandreou back under house arrest, and seized several of the King's staff members. But toward the King himself the junta acted with restraint. At a press conference, Colonel Papadopoulos, who had taken over as Premier, insisted that the King had been misled. Had he known what the King was up to? Replied Papadopoulos: "Had I known, I personally—and the others—would have tried to enlighten him and not let him go astray." Papadopoulos refused to speculate about the King's motivation. Said he: "If there were in this world a way to interpret illogicality by logic, I would have an answer."
The junta insisted that it would retain the monarchy and appointed as temporary regent Lieut. General George Zoetakis, who was sworn in by Archbishop Leronymos, formerly the chaplain of the royal family and the King's personal confessor. Pictures of the King and Queen, which had been taken down from government offices in the first hours of the countercoup, were put back in their accustomed places. Orthodox priests were ordered to retain the passages about the King and royal family in their Sunday prayers.
Diplomatic Snub. In fact, the junta at week's end openly declared that it would welcome the King's return. Explained Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos: "The King left on his own, and he may return on his own." The junta was not, of course, acting out of affection for the young monarch. Because Constantine is Greece's head of state and recognized as such by all other nations, his departure stripped the regime of its cherished veneer of legitimacy. Not one single foreign country offered to recognize the new regime, and in a calculated diplomatic snub, the ambassadors of Britain, France, Italy, West Germany and the U.S. even refused to heed a summons from Papadopoulos to drop by for a briefing. A lack of recognition would mean a cutoff in aid programs, a disruption of trade, and a general discomfiture for the sensitive colonels, who badly want to be accepted by the Western nations.
The junta's civilian Foreign Minister Panayotis Pipinelis stopped over in Rome on his return from the NATO meeting in Brussels to talk with the King. Not ignoring more lofty influences, the junta sent Archbishop Leronymos to reason with Constantine. There was some speculation that the King's sister, Princess Irene, might go back as a royal standin. But the King so far seemed disinclined to return, fearing that his position would be reduced still further to that of a mere figurehead. Even so, having failed in his open revolt against the junta, the King could yet decide that, by returning, he might once again stand before his people as an advocate of constitutional rule—a role that would be difficult to assume in exile.