Alexander I of Yugoslavia & Princess Marie (Mignon) of Romania

[Alex_for_King]

[quote author=TampaBay
Alex, Alexander and Mignon were excellent monarchs and servants of the people.  Thank you for your posts.
You have every right to be proud of your Royal Family.
TampaBay[/quote]

Thank You, TampaBay!

While Alex was resented for his dictatorship, the truth is that Tito's communist dictatorship was much longer and much more brutal. Both Alexander and Tito and later Milosevic tried to preserve Yugoslavia by force, but it didn't work. And there was no other way to hold such a mixture of civilizations (Austria-Hungary empire vs Ottoman Turkish empire), religions (Orthodox, Catholic, Islam) etc.

Alexander's courage in WW 1 had been noted, his creation of the Little Entente and Balkan Alliance were great moves to stabilize the Balkans. If he had lived longer, there was no way we would be having communism in Yugoslavia. He also loved his people, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, equally and did a lot of humanitarian work.

Queen Marie, however, was out of politics. All she did was humanitarian work, without any regard to nationality, religion etc. Since the Karadjordjevic family is primarily Serbian, it is logical that the people of Serbia loved her the most.

The only bad thing the communists would ever "discover" about Q. Marie was that she did not attend her son's wedding (Peter's to Alexandra of Greece) as she did not want a marriage in the middle of the war. She allegedly said she had a toothache. That was the only thing the communists said about Queen Marie. Their language towards other members of the Royal Family was much more poisonous.

I know old people who still remember when they would walk by, Q. Marie would stand at the balcony and wave. The gentlemen would remove their hats and bow, while the ladies would bow and courtsy (forgive me if the spelling is wrong). And the children would get candies from the Queen.

She was like Princess Diana. The Queen of Hearts!

[Alex_for_King]

[quote author=LisaDavidson I would like to point out that TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine have taken up the legacy of his grandmother and are presently doing much to improve the lot of the Serbian people. They left a comfortable life in the UK to do this, and I think the Serbian people have every right to be proud of them, as well.[/quote]

Lisa, thank you for that wonderful observation. CP Alex and Princess Katherine have done A LOT. They are sponsoring sports and culture, traditional events, but most importantly, they are bringing in medicines, medical supplies, medical equipment, helping renovate hospitals, and also promoting investments in Serbia, promoting a general positive image of Serbia. They are healing the Serbian nation, traumatised by the sad, awful and tragic events of the 1990s.

Just recently, they gathered tens of thousands of dollars for a hospital in Smederevo, they sent trucks of aid (food and medicines) to the flooded regions of north Serbia, they brought 20,000 euros worth of medical equipment for the Children's Hospital in Belgrade and a new Intensive Care Unit was named after Princess Katherine.

More on that on their official page and on my Yahoo Group Serbian Royalty.

The problem that the people have with the Crown Prince is that his Serbian language skills are poor. They have improved, and when he gets to speak fluently, he will be much more respected. That seems to be the main remark that most people have regarding the Crown Prince.

I don't care that much what language he speaks. If he can make the life better for the people, which he is, along with his wife, if they can ease the suffering of the poor, the sick, the elderly, the young - which they are doing, while politicians just grab as much power and money as they can, well, then he can speak Mandarian Chinese, for all I care.

>They left a comfortable life in the UK

They are still living a comfortable life in Belgrade - in the Royal Palace with servants etc... but their home is Belgrade, not London. What is most important is that they are back with their people, in their country, and doing so many good things for their people. Some people don't realise this yet... unfortunately.

Thank you, Lisa, for making that wonderful statement.

[TampaBay]

Alex_for_King, Your Highness,

Can Alexander II's son marry anyone he wishes or is required to make an equal marriage with a member of anpther Royal House?  

I am not familiar with the current or previous Serbia & Montenegro Constitution.

Thanks,

TampaBay

[Alex_for_King]

Alex_for_King, Your Highness,

Can Alexander II's son marry anyone he wishes or is required to make an equal marriage with a member of anpther Royal House?  I am not familiar with the current or previous Serbia & Montenegro Constitution.
TampaBay

----

Hi.

Just to clarify why I am called Alex_for_King. Because my name is Alex and I think Crown Prince Alex should be King, so I am Alex and I am also for a King, so that's where the name comes from. It is not ME who wishes to be King, but thanks for the "Your Highness". I love it.  

Anyway, we are a Republic now and our Constitution says nothing on royal marriages and, yes, Alexander II's sons can marry whomever they want. Back in the old days the King would have to approve of the marriage, but since we are not a Monarchy, yes they can marry anyone they wish and I guess times have changed, even if we did have a King, you can't really stop two people from loving each other. Even Princess Katherine is not originally a Princess. She became a Princess when she married CP Alex II.

It would be nice if the 3 boys would marry some Royalty from Europe, it would strengthen the position of the Karadjordjevic family and give a boost to the pro-monarchy option.

[TampaBay]

----

Hi.

Just to clarify why I am called Alex_for_King. Because my name is Alex and I think Crown Prince Alex should be King, so I am Alex and I am also for a King, so that's where the name comes from. It is not ME who wishes to be King, but thanks for the "Your Highness". I love it.  

Anyway, we are a Republic now and our Constitution says nothing on royal marriages and, yes, Alexander II's sons can marry whomever they want. Back in the old days the King would have to approve of the marriage, but since we are not a Monarchy, yes they can marry anyone they wish and I guess times have changed, even if we did have a King, you can't really stop two people from loving each other. Even Princess Katherine is not originally a Princess. She became a Princess when she married CP Alex II.

It would be nice if the 3 boys would marry some Royalty from Europe, it would strengthen the position of the Karadjordjevic family and give a boost to the pro-monarchy option.

Alex,

I think you would make a good King but if you think CP Alex would be better I understand.  We need to talk to the Grand Duke and see if he will put you in the peerage. How about being a Duke or an Earl?

Back on Topic what is the % breakdown of religions in the countries that were the former Yugoslavia?

Are any of Mignon & King Alexander's children still alive?

Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, etc...

TampaBay

[Alex_for_King]

Tampa Bay,

Just to tell you that I have had the pleasure to meet CP Alex and Princess Katherine, as well as princess Jelisaveta (Elizabeth). All of them are wonderful. The Crown Prince's birthday is July 17, I think. I wish I could be there. I'll see if I can pull some strings to get invited.  

You asked me something about the religions in the former YU. Well, under communism, religion did not really matter. It was not banned like in Albania, but it was not popular, nor encouraged. But, the religious composition of Yugoslavia was mostly Orthodox (Serbia, Montenegro, parts of Bosnia and Hercegovina inhabited by Serbs, Macedonia, parts of Croatia inhabited by Serbs). Slovenia was almost totally catholic and so were parts of Croatia. The islamic faith was centered in Bosnia and Hercegovina, the Sandzak region (Serbia), parts of Kosovo and Macedonia.
Yugoslavia was basically a large and wonderful country, but it was not possible to keep it together, not even by force (King Alexander, Tito and Milosevic tried to keep it by force, and they all failed, eventually). Basically, it was a melting pot of civilizations (the Austria-Hungary empire vs. the Ottoman empire), of religions, cultures and historic annimosities of its peoples. Serbs and Croats were the two biggest peoples - with deep and long running hatred between each other, and in such conditions Yugoslavia could not prevail. Too bad. It was a wrong system, but Yugoslavia by itself was not too bad. A large country, with beautiful natural beauties and natural resources. It could have been the #1 country in the Balkans. It could have entered the EU before all other former communist countries... Instead, it fell apart in wars and agony.

But, that country, the country I was born in and grew up in, is gone and after having shed so many tears about that misfortunate country, the Serb in me has awaken. Now everything about Yugoslavia reminds me of pain, bloodshed, destruction... and somewehere deep in me, are the nice memories of a truly happy childhood.

Now I want a Kingdom of Serbia, as it was before Yugoslavia, of course, adapted to the modern era.

We have a Dynasty, our own, we have always been some kind of a Monarchy, until 1945. So, the only logical thing is to return the Monarchy.

Apart from Serbia and Montenegro, no other Republic of the former Yugoslavia has a royal family.

Having a royal family can only be a plus.

I have no doubt that we will once again be a Monarchy, because that idea and tradition is deeply rooted in the Serbian nation. I just don't know when that will happen. We have missed some great opportunities but new ones will come.

[Alex_for_King]

[quote author=TampaBay
Are any of Mignon & King Alexander's children still alive?

TampaBay,

None of the children of Alex I and Marie are still alive.

Peter II, the exiled King, died in 1970 in the US.

Andrey died in 1990. in the US.

Tomislav, the middle son of Alex I and Marie - in the West known as Tommy of Yugoslavia, died in 2000, just a few months before Milosevic was toppled from power.

Tommy did not get to see the arrival of democracy in Serbia. The last few years of his life he had been sick of cancer, but he did manage to return to his homeland and spend the remaining period of his life at the Royal Family estate in Oplenac, Serbia, where also the church in which many of the Karadjordjevic family members have been buried, is located.

Tommy never took the UK citizenship. Somehow, he always thought he would return to his country and he did. He arrived to Yugoslavia with a UN refugee passport and the old passport of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was reported that the customs officers had cried when he gave them the old passport.

His biggest wish was to return to his Fatherland and to die there - he got that wish. His second wish was to transfer the remains of his mother and brother - Mignon and Peter II, to Serbia, and his third wish was for the Serbian people to return to the Monarchy. Those last two of his wishes we will fullfill someday.

He was a very gentle, kind hearted, soft spoken, noble and nice man. I miss him terribly.

[allanraymond]

[quote author=TampaBay
Are any of Mignon & King Alexander's children still alive?

TampaBay,

None of the children of Alex I and Marie are still alive.

Peter II, the exiled King, died in 1970 in the US.

Andrey died in 1990. in the US.

Tomislav, the middle son of Alex I and Marie - in the West known as Tommy of Yugoslavia, died in 2000, just a few months before Milosevic was toppled from power.

snipped

It is extremely unfortunate regarding the deaths of  Peter II and Andrey.

The death of  Peter II is shrouded in some mystery, reports provided by a "Mrs Lowe" a friend of  Peter II indicated he had died in Los Angeles. Later it was identified he had died in Denver following a liver transplant. "Mrs Lowe" after her divorce from Dr Frank Lowe married Prince Andrey.

Andrey was a descendant of Queen Victoria and had the almost unique distinction of having married two other descendants of Queen Victoria. (Princess Sophie of Greece was the other direct descendant who married two other descendants of Queen Victoria).

Andrey was found dead in his car and his death was ruled as a suicide.

http://www.btinternet.com/~allan_raymond/Yugoslavian_Royal_Family.htm#7.543a

(Source - Queen Victoria's Descendants by Marlene A. Eilers - ISBN 91-630-5964-9)

Allan Raymond

[ilyala]

marie of romania (mignon) was the daughter of marie (missy of edinburgh) and ferdinand of romania... i read somewhere that she might have been the daughter of gd boris but i sincerely doubt it since i only read this in one place, had it been true more people would have known about it...


she was born january 9th 1900...

right now i don't have any photos of her at hand, but she was a very beautiful child... generally people tend to appreciate her older sister, elizabeth, more... but i like her better: she was genuine and she was natural. elizabeth was a fake...

[ilyala]

i found some pics of her as a child

[ilyala]

here with her whole family:

from left to right: ferdinand (her father), queen elizabeth of romania, prince carol (future carol 2nd, marie's brother), princess marie (future queen of romania, her mother), prince nicholas (her brother), marie, king carol of romania and princess elizabeth (future queen of greece, her sister):




with nicolae and ileana, her younger siblings:

[ilyala]

with her mother and elizabeth:



...and again with her mother and siblings (marie is on the left):

[ilyala]

...and again with her family, marie's sitting in front:




and with her mother

[ilyala]

and an older version... mignon is the second from the right...

[ilyala]

...with her sister elizabeth,