The family returned to Crete when, following a lengthy period of internal strife and diplomatic negotiations, the island gradually returned to normality as the Cretan Independent State.

 In Report to Greco, Kazantzakis gives a vivid description of the day when Prince George arrived on the island as High Commissioner. In the Easter-like atmosphere of joy over the fulfilment of national aspirations, the fifteen-year-old student felt himself crossing the threshold of his adolescence.