Maria of Yugoslavia

Maria of Romania or Marie of Yugoslavia (6 January 1900 – 22 June 1961), known in Serbo-Croatian as Marija Karađorđević (Serbian Cyrillic: Марија Карађорђевић), was Queen of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later Queen of Yugoslavia, as the wife of King Alexander from 1922 until his assassination in 1934. She was the mother of Peter II, the last Yugoslav monarch. Her citizenship was revoked and her property confiscated by the Yugoslav Communist regime in 1947, but she was "rehabilitated" in 2014.[1]

For her mother, see Marie of Romania.

Maria of Romania
Queen consort of Yugoslavia
Tenure8 June 1922 – 9 October 1934
Born(1900-01-06)6 January 1900
Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, German Empire
Died22 June 1961(1961-06-22) (aged 61)
London, England, United Kingdom
Burial
Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, Windsor (1961–2013)
Royal Mausoleum Oplenac, Serbia (since 2013)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1922; died 1934)​
Issue
HouseHohenzollern-Sigmaringen
FatherFerdinand I of Romania
MotherMarie of Edinburgh
ReligionEastern Orthodox

Early life

Maria was born on 6 January 1900, at Friedenstein Palace in Gotha, a town in Thuringia, in the German Empire.[2] She was named after her maternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, and was known as Mignon in the family to distinguish her from her mother. Her parents were Princess Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. In 1914, after the death of Carol I, they became King and Queen of Romania. She had three brothers and two sisters: King Carol II of Romania; Prince Nicholas of Romania; Princess Elisabeth of Romania and future Queen of Greece; Princess Ileana of Romania and future Archduchess of Austria (Tuscan line); and another brother, Prince Mircea of Romania, who died at age three. Although plump, Maria was a noted beauty in her youth and resembled her sister Elisabeth.

During World War I, she worked as a nurse with her mother, along with her two sisters.

Marriage and children
Maria with her sons, Peter, Tomislav and Andrew

Maria married Alexander I, second King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, in Belgrade on 8 June 1922, and had three sons:

Following the assassination of her husband, King Alexander I, in Marseille in 1934, her oldest son, then only 11 became Peter II of Yugoslavia, the last reigning Yugoslav king. She was given the title Queen Mother of Yugoslavia in 1941. She moved to a farm in England and lived a relatively normal life without royal extravagance. Maria was well educated. She spoke several languages fluently and enjoyed painting and sculpting under the guidance of artist Iva Despić-Simonović. She also drove a car by herself, which was very unusual for royalty at the time.[3]

She died in exile in London on 22 June 1961 and was interred at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, which adjoins Windsor Castle, before her remains were transferred to Serbia in April 2013 and re-interred on 26 May 2013 in Oplenac, Serbia.[2][4]

Queen's summer residence near Budva, Montenegro

Honours

Sources
  1. Crnjanski Spasojević, V. "Rehabilitovana kraljica Marija Karađorđević". Večernje novosti. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  2. "HM Queen Maria of Yugoslavia". Royal Family of Serbia. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  3. "Yugoslavia's exiled queen". The Daily Telegraph.
  4. Yugoslavia's exiled Queen returns home at long last
  5. Fifty fifth memorial anniversary of HM Queen Maria at St. George Church in Oplenac
  6. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BASA-3K-2-123-231-Recipients_of_the_Bulgarian_Order_of_Saint_Alexander,_1912-1935.JPG
Maria of Yugoslavia
Cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern
Born: 6 January 1900 Died: 22 June 1961
Yugoslavian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Draga Obrenović
as Queen consort of Serbia		 Queen consort of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
later of Yugoslavia
8 June 1922 – 9 October 1934		 Vacant
Title next held by
Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark
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