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Denmark
King Christian IX
Ancestor
Denmark
King Frederik VIII
(Chr. IX's son)
Great Britain
Queen Alexandra
(Chr. IX's daughter)
Greece
King George I
(Chr. IX's son)
Russia
Czarina Dagmar
(Chr. IX's daughter)
Belgium
Queen Astrid
Norway
King Haakon VII
(Frederik VIII's son)
Luxembourg
Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte
Spain
Queen Sophia
(Princess of Greece)
Romania
Cr. Princess Helena
(Princess of Greece)
Yugoslavia
Princess Olga
(Princess of Greece)
Sweden
Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Queen of Denmark Miscellaneous
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Alexandra (*born 1921), Princess of Greece,
a daughter of King
Alexander of Greece and Aspasia Manos, married in 1944 the Yugoslavian King
Peter II (1923-1970), who was king 1934-45. Since 1921 the new and
enlarged Serbia, or rather Yugoslavia, a new state consequent to World
War I, was reigned by King Alexander I. He was murdered in
Paris in 1934, 45 years old.
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His 34-year old widow, Queen Marie, was
left behind in Belgrade with three young sons, of whom the oldest was the 11-year
old Crown Prince Peter, now formally King Peter II of Yugoslavia. Because
of the Crown Prince's young age it was, however, absolutely necessary to find a
regent until the new king's 18th birthday.
The late King Alexander's cousin,
the 41-year old Prince Paul, was chosen for this task.
- Crown Prince Peter II.
- Idem.
- Queen Mary.
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In 1923 Prince Paul
had married the Greek Princess Olga, a daughter of the late Prince
Nicholaos of Greece, and a grand-daughter of the late King George I
of Greece.
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One of his "jobs" as regent was to keep the
throne warm, until the very young King Peter II himself could take over.
It was a more than difficult task, and the kind, but absolutely
inexperienced Prince Paul certainly didn't have the same force and
firmness as his cousin, the late King Alexander, whom he was now replacing.
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When Hitler started World War II in 1939,
and Mussolini joined him in 1940, it was scheduled that Italy should manage all
problems on the Balkan Peninsula, which was the reason for the Italian invasion
of Greece in 1940. Hitler was infuriated of the Italian fiasco in Greece;
he wanted the Balkan at any price! Prince Paul, who more than ever wished
to stay neutral was threatened severely by Hitler, if he didn't give in for the
Nazi pressure. Politically inexperienced as he was, he finally
signed a pact with Hitler, but this should prove to be the worst failure of his
life. Prince Peter and Princess Olga were immediately removed by the
Yugoslavian government, and that same night they fled out of Yugoslavia on the
last plane to South Africa.
The Happy Yugoslavian Royal Family,
1923.
The below photograph was taken at the christening of the royal couple's newborn son, Prince Peter (later King Peter II). The
parents were king Alexander I and queen Mary (born princess of Romania)
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Left: King Alexander, and in the front Queen Mary with their
baby-son. Behind: Queen Elizabeth of
Greece (married to King George II of Greece), King Ferdinand of Romania,
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Albert, Duke of York The latter became
later King of England as George VI; Lady Elizabeth is known today as the
British Queen Mother. Click on photo for enlargement. The link will
open in a new window.
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the 17-year old King Peter II achieved only 3 weeks of sovereignty, before
he fled to Greece and via Jerusalem landed in London in September 1941.
The leadership of Yugoslavia was immediately taken over by one of Stalin's protégés,
Josip Broz, better known as Marshal Tito.
Given this fact, King Peter II never returned to Yugoslavia as king. He died in Los
Angeles at the age of 47, leaving behind his wife, Queen Alexandra, born
Princess Alexandra of Greece, whom he had married in 1944.
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- Contemporary photograph of King Peter II and Queen Alexandra of
Yugoslavia.
The era of the
old Serbian royal dynasty of Karageorgevitch, inter-marrying with the Glücksburg
Family, was extinct forever.
For a number of years the
posterity of the Karageorgevitch Dynasty, presided by HRH Crown Prince
Alexander, lived in England. The family has now moved to Belgrade, and upon
request to the webmaster, dated 31st January 2002 by HRH Crown Prince
Alexander of Yugoslavia the royal family's new address is published here:
The Royal Palace, Belgrade,
Yugoslavia.
Tel. +381 11 306 4000
Fax +381 11 306 4040
Historical Notice
Yugoslavia was first
established on 1st December 1918 as a kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians.
After World War II the kingdom was transformed into a Communistic
federation, whose leader during 40 years was Josip Broz Tito. Montenegro
has approximately (2003) 650.000 inhabitants, and Serbia approximately (2003) 10
mill. inhabitants.
As of 4th February 2003 Yugoslavia no longer exists. Both chambers of the
Federal Parliament voted for the establishing of a commonwealth named
"Serbia & Montenegro". 84 members of the parliament voted
for, and 31 against the dissolution of the last remainders of former Yugoslavia,
that was created in 1992 after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia left the
federation, causing a civil war.
Montenegro held an independence referendum in the spring of 2006 under rules set
by the EU. The vote for severing ties with Serbia exceeded the 55% threshold,
allowing Montenegro to formally declare its independence on 3 June 2006.
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