Papandreou Decree Final; Way Cleared for His Remarriage
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, whose tangled love life has become the best-watched soap opera in Greece, finally got his divorce Friday.
The 70-year-old prime minister can now go ahead with plans to marry former Olympic Airways flight attendant Dimitra Liani, 35, who has acted as Greece’s unofficial first lady for the past 10 months.
Papandreou’s bitter public argument with his American-born wife, Margaret, has been splashed across newspaper front pages for months and is a favorite theme in satirical cabaret skits.
On Friday, the unhappy couple officially renounced their rights to contest a June 9 divorce decree by an Athens court, making the divorce final, lawyers for both parties told reporters.
A public prosecutor will notify the Greek Orthodox Church, which will dissolve the marriage spiritually. Papandreou can marry twice-divorced Liani in a civil ceremony now, but she wants a church wedding.
It was the second divorce for both Papandreou and his wife. They were married in 1951 in the United States and have four children, including Education Minister George Papandreou.
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