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====Liberation of Yugoslavia and the communist victory====
====Liberation of Yugoslavia and the communist victory====
Now Queen of Yugoslavia, Alexandra, however, had tenuous links with her new country, living under the Nazi ocupation. In 1941, a large portion of the Yugoslav territory was indeed annexed by the Axis powers. [[Michael, Prince of Montenegro|Crown Prince Michael of Montenegro]] refused to resurrect his ancient Kingdom under Italian and German protection and guidance, and thus the region of [[Montenegro]] has been transformed into a [[Italian governorate of Montenegro|''governorate'']] by fascist Italy.<ref>Antoine Sidoti, ''Le Monténégro et l'Italie durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale : Histoire, mythes et réalités'', CNRS Éditions, 2003, p. 64.</ref> Finally, the other two main parts of Yugoslavia were reduced into [[Puppet state|puppet states]]: the [[Government of National Salvation|Serbia]] of General [[Milan Nedić]] and the [[Independent State of Croatia|Croatia]] of the [[Ustaše]]. As all over occupied Europe, Yugoslav civilians suffer the abuses of the invaders and [[Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II|collaborators]] who support them.<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 90.</ref> But, as also elsewhere, groups of resistance are gradually emerge and take control of [[Maquis (World War II)|maquis]]. Of these, two trends are emerging: one were the [[Chetniks]], led by General monarchist [[Draža Mihailović]] and the other were the [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisans]], led by the communist Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito|Tito]].<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 93.</ref>

From London, the Yugoslav government-in-exile supported the struggle of the royalist forces and appoints General Mihailović as Chief Minister of War.<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 94.</ref> However, the importance of the Partisans gradually pushes the [[Allies of World War II|allied forces]] to trust the Communists and gave an increasingly limited help to Mihailović, accused of collaborating with the Axis powers to shoot communist guerrillas.<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, pp. 101–104.</ref> After the [[Tehran Conference]] (1943), the Allies finally break their ties with the Chetniks,<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 105.</ref> forcing the Yugoslav government-in-exile to recognize the preeminence of the Partisans. In June 1944, Prime Minister [[Ivan Šubašić]] officially appointed Marshal Tito as the head of the Yugoslav resistance and Mihailović was dismissed.<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 108.</ref> In October 1944, [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] conclude an [[Moscow Conference (1944)|agreement]] to split Yugoslavia into two occupation zones, but after the liberation of [[Belgrade]] by the [[Red Army]] and the Partisans, it becomes clear the Communist predominate in the country.<ref name="Foran111">Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 111.</ref> A harsh treatment, which affects the monarchists, took place;<ref name="Foran111"/> at the request of Churchill, Tito agreed in March 1945 to recognize a Regency Council (which has almost no activity) but opposes the return of King Peter II,<ref>Walter R. Roberts, ''Tito, Mihailović, and the allies, 1941-1945'', Duke University Press, 1987, pp. 312–313.</ref> who must resign to the situation and remain in exile with Alexandra while a government coalition dominated by the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia|Communists]] is constituted in Belgrade.<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, pp. 111–115.</ref>

====Birth of Crown Prince Alexander and Peter II's deposition====
====Birth of Crown Prince Alexander and Peter II's deposition====
In this turbulent context, Alexandra gave birth to an heir, named [[Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia|Alexander]] after his two grandfathers, [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia]] and [[Alexander I of Greece]]. The birth takes place at the Suite 212 of [[Claridge's Hotel]] in Brook Street, London, on 17 July 1945. To enable the child to be born on Yugoslav soil, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly authorizes King [[George VI]] to issue a decree transforming, for a day, the Suite 212 in [[Extraterritoriality|Yugoslav territory]],<ref name="Mateos407">Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 407.</ref><ref>[[Philippe Delorme]], ''Les Dynasties perdues'', collection "Point de vue", Express Roularta, 2011 ISBN 978-2-84343-855-4, p. 172.</ref> which was to be the only time Queen Alexandra was in Yugoslavia.<ref name=Independent/> Some time later, the newborn Crown Prince was baptized by the [[Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo V]] in [[Westminster Abbey]], with King George VI and his eldest daughter (the future Queen [[Elizabeth II]]) acting as godparents.<ref>Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 121.</ref>

The festivities marking the birth of the Crown Prince, however, were short-lived. Less than eight months after joining the coalition government, [[Milan Grol]] and Ivan Šubašić resigned to their offices of Vice-Prime Minister (18 August) and Foreign Minister (8 October), respectively, to mark their political disagreement with Marshal Tito. Faced with the rise of the Communists, King Peter II decided, to withdraw his confidence from the Regency Council and regain all his sovereign prerogatives in Yugoslavia (8 August). Tito's response was immediate: the Communist dictator immediately deprives the royal family of the [[civil list]], which is soon to have dramatic consequences on the lives of the royal couple. Especially, Tito ordered the organization of early elections in charge of a Constituent Assembly. The campaign takes place in an irregularly way, in the middle of pressures and violence of all kinds, with the opposition decided to boycott the poll.<ref>[[John R. Lampe]], ''Yugoslavia as History: Twice there was a Country'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 28 March 2000, 487 p. ISBN 0521774012, pp. 230–231.</ref> On 24 November 1945 a single list presented by the communists was proposed to voters: while there was hardly more than 10,000 Communists throughout Yugoslavia before the war, they candidates list, obtained more than 90% of the votes in the referendum.<ref name="Foran115">Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 115.</ref>

In their first meeting on 29 November 1945, the Constituent Assembly vote immediately the abolition of the monarchy and proclaimed the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]].<ref name="Foran115"/> While no referendum will accompany this institutional change, the new regime was quickly recognized by virtually all of the international countries (except [[Francoist Spain]]).<ref name="Foran116">Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 116.</ref>

===Marital problems and suicide attempts===


====Financial and marital difficulties====
On 17 July 1945 she gave birth to [[Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia|the Crown Prince]] in Suite 212 of [[Claridge's Hotel]] in Brook Street. The British Government ceded sovereignty over the suite to Yugoslavia just for one day, so that the prince would be born in Yugoslav territory, which was to be the only time Queen Alexandra was in Yugoslavia.<ref name=Independent/>
====Divorce attempt and reconciliation====


The marriage deteriorated after the war and the declaration of a Communist republic in Yugoslavia; in the late 1940s Queen Alexandra left her husband, taking their son with her, after he had sold her jewels and most of their other remaining property.
The marriage deteriorated after the war and the declaration of a Communist republic in Yugoslavia; in the late 1940s Queen Alexandra left her husband, taking their son with her, after he had sold her jewels and most of their other remaining property.
Line 181: Line 193:
* Marlene Eilers König, ''Descendants of Queen Victoria''.
* Marlene Eilers König, ''Descendants of Queen Victoria''.
* Hugo Vickers, ''Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece'', London, Hamish Hamilton, 2000 ISBN 0-241-13686-5.
* Hugo Vickers, ''Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece'', London, Hamish Hamilton, 2000 ISBN 0-241-13686-5.
* Thomas de Foran de Saint-Bar, ''Les Karageorges, Rois de Serbie et de Yougoslavie'', Éditions Christian, 1999 ISBN 286496077X.
{{Commons category|Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia}}
{{Commons category|Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-start}}

Revision as of 03:33, 24 July 2016

Alexandra of Greece and Denmark
Alexandra with her son
Queen consort of Yugoslavia
Tenure20 March 1944 – 29 November 1945
Born(1921-03-25)25 March 1921
Athens, Greece
Died30 January 1993(1993-01-30) (aged 71)
East Sussex, England
Burial7 February 1993
Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece (1993—2013)
Royal Mausoleum Oplenac, Topola, Serbia (since 2013)
SpousePeter II of Yugoslavia
IssueAlexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
HouseGlücksburg
FatherAlexander of Greece
MotherAspasia Manos
ReligionEastern Orthodox
Styles of
Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia
Reference styleHer Majesty
Spoken styleYour Majesty
Alternative styleMa'am

Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Αλεξάνδρα, Serbian: Александра/Aleksandra; 25 March 1921 – 30 January 1993), was a Princess of Greece and Denmark member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg by birth and Queen consort of Yugoslavia by marriage.

Posthumous daughter of King Alexander I of Greece and his morganatic wife Aspasia Manos, Alexandra wasn't part of the Greek Royal Family until July 1922, when at the behest of her paternal grandmother Queen Sophia, a law was passed who retroactively recognize marriages of members of the Royal Family, although on a non-dynastic basis; in consequence, she obtained the style name of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. In the same time, a serious political and military crisis, linked to the defeat of Greece against Turkey in Anatolia, gradually led to the deposition and exile of the royal family, beginning in 1924. Being the only members of the dynasty allowed to remain in the country by the Second Hellenic Republic, the princess and her mother later found refuge in Italy, with Dowager Queen Sophia.

After three years with her paternal grandmother, Alexandra leave Florence to continue her studies in the United Kingdom, while her mother Aspasia settled in Venice. Separated from her mother, the princess finally fell ill, forcing Aspasia to make her leave the boarding school where she was studying. After the restoration of her uncle King George II on the Hellenic throne in 1935, Alexandra performs several stays in her native country, but the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War, in 1940 , forcing her and her mother to settled in Athens. The invasion of Greece by the Axis powers in April–May 1941, however, led to their moving to the United Kingdom. Again exiled, Alexandra met in London the young King Peter II of Yugoslavia, who also went to exile after the invasion of his country by the Germans.

Quickly, Alexandra and Peter II fell in love and planned to marry. However, the opposition of both Queen Mother Maria of Yugoslavia (Peter II's mother) and the Yugoslav government in exile forced the couple to delay their marital projects for two years, until 1944, when they finally celebrated their wedding. A year later, Alexandra gave birth to her only son, Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia. However, the happiness of the family was short-lived: on 29 November 1945, Marshal Tito proclaimed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Alexandra, who has never set foot in her adopted country, was left without crown.

The abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy has very serious consequences for the royal couple. Penniless and unable to adapt to the role of citizen, Peter II turned into alcoholism and multiplies affairs with other women. Depressed by the behavior of her husband, Alexandra neglects her son and made several suicide attempts. After the death of Peter II in 1970, Alexandra's health continues to deteriorate. She died of cancer in 1993 and her remains were buried in the Royal Cemetery Plot in the park of Tatoi in Greece, before being transferred to the Royal Mausoleum of Oplenac in 2013.

Life

A birth surrounded by intrigues

The issue of the Greek succession

Princess Alexandra was born in a difficult environment. Five months before her birth, her father, King Alexander I, died of sepsis following a monkey bite who occurred in the gardens of Tatoi.[1][2] The unexpected death of the sovereign caused a serious political crisis in Greece, at a time when public opinion was already divided by the events of the World War I and the Greco-Turkish War. The late King concluded an unequal marriage with Aspasia Manos,[a][5] and in consequence their offspring wasn't dynastic and, due to the lack of another candidate for the throne, Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos was soon forced to accept the restoration of his enemy, King Constantine I, on 19 December 1920.[6][7] Alexander I's brief government was officially treated as a regency, which meant that his marriage, contracted without his father's permission, was technically illegal, the marriage void, and the couple's posthumous child illegitimate.

The last months of pregnancy Aspasia are surrounded by intrigue. In the case that she gave birth a boy (who would be named Philip, as the father of Alexander the Great),[8] rumours soon assured that she was determined to place him on the throne after his birth.[9][10] True or not, this possibility worries the Greek royal family, who fears about the birth of a male child were exploited by the Venizelists to revive the succession crisis. The birth of a girl, on 25 March 1921 was a great relief for the dynasty[b] and both King Constantine I and his mother Queen Dowager Olga accept to be the godparents of the newborn.[12][13]

Integration into the royal family

Still, neither Alexandra nor Aspasia receive more official recognition: from a legal point of view, they are commoners with any rights into the royal family. Things change from July 1922, when after the internvention of Queen Sophia, was passed a law who retroactively recognize marriages of members of the Royal Family, although on a non-dynastic basis; with this legal subterfuge, the little princess obtained the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of Greece and Denmark. Thus, Alexandra' birth became legitimate in the eyes of Greek law, but since the marriage was recognized on a 'non-dynastic basis,' her royal status was tenuous at best; however, this belated recognition made it possible for her to make a later advantageous marriage, which would not have been possible if she was nothing more than the daughter of the King's morganatic spouse.[14][15]

Aspasia, however, wasn't mentioned in the law and remains a commoner in the eyes of protocol.[16] Humiliated by this difference in treatment, she begs Prince Christopher of Greece (whose commoner wife Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds was entitled as Princess of Greece), to intercede on her behalf. Moved by the arguments of her niece-in-law, he approached to Queen Sophia, who eventually change her opinion. Under pressures from his wife, King Constantine I issued a decree, gazetted 10 September 1922 under which Aspasia received the title Princess of Greece and Denmark and the style of Royal Highness.[16][17][18]

Childhood in exile

From Athens to Florence

Despite these positive developments, the situation of Alexandra and her mother didn't improved. Indeed, Greece experiencing a serie of military defeats against Turkey and a coup d’état soon forced King Constantine I to abdicate again, this time in favor of Diadochos George, on 27 September 1922.[19][20] Things from bad to worse for the country, a further coup forced the new ruler, his wife and his brother to leave the country on 19 December 1923. On 25 March 1924, the Second Hellenic Republic was proclaimed and both Aspasia and Alexandra are then the only members of the dynasty allowed to stay in Greece.[16][21][22]

Penniless, Aspasia chooses to take the path of exile with her daughter in early 1924. The two princesses found refuge with Queen Sophia, who moved to the Villa Bobolina near Florence, shortly after the death of her husband on 11 January 1923. The now Dowager Queen, who loves Alexandra, was thrilled, even if her financial situation was also precarious.[23][24] With her paternal grandmother, the princess spent a happy childhood with her aunts Crown Princess Helen of Romania, princesses Irene and Katerine of Greece, and her cousins Prince Philip of Greece (the future Duke of Edinburgh) and Prince Michael of Romania, which are her playmates during holidays.[25]

From London to Venice

See also: Garden of Eden (Venice)

In 1927, Alexandra and her mother moved to Ascot, Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. They were greeted by Sir James Horlick, 4th Baronet and his family, who harbored them in their castle near the hippodrome.[26] Now seven years old, Alexandra was enrolled in boarding schools in Westfield and Heathfield, as was the custom for the upper class. However, the princess took very badly this experience:[10][27] separated from her mother, she stops eating and eventually contracted tuberculosis. Alarmed, Aspasia thus moved her daughter to Switzerland for treatment.[10] Later, Alexandra was educated in a Parisian finishing school, during which time she and her mother stayed at the Hotel Crillon.[5][28]

Eventually, the two princesses settled on the Island of Giudecca in Venice, where Aspasia acquired a small property with her savings and Horlick's financial support.Former home of Caroline Eden, great-aunt of British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, the villa and its 3.6 hectares of landscaped grounds are nicknamed the Garden of Eden, which delights the Greek princesses.[29][30]

Restoration of the Greek monarchy

Between Greece and Venice

In 1935, the Second Hellenic Republic was abolished and King George II (Alexandra's uncle) was restored to the throne after a referendum organized by General Georgios Kondylis.[31] Alexandra is then allowed to return to Greece, a country she has not seen since 1924. Although she continues to reside in Venice with her mother (who still suffered the ostracism of the royal family), the princess was invited to all the great ceremonies that punctuate the life of the dynasty. In 1936, she participates in the official ceremonies who marked the reburial in Tatoi of the remains of King Constantine I, Queen Sophia and Dowager Queen Olga, all three died in exile in Italy. Two years later, in 1938, she was invited to the wedding of her uncle, the Diadochos Paul, with Princess Frederica of Hanover.[32]

Despite her participation in the ceremonies of the Greek royal family, at that time Alexandra understood that she wasn't a full member of the European royalty. Her mother had to claim in her name the share of the inheritance of Alexandra's paternal grandparents. Especially, the princess had to deal with the fact that her mother had no site in the royal necropolis of Tatoi. In fact, during the 1936 ceremonies, a chapel was arranged in the park of the palace for the remains of King Constantine I and Queen Sophia. The remains of King Alexander I, previously based in the gardens next to his grandfather King George I, were then transferred at the side of his parents in the chapel, with no space reserved for Aspasia.[32]

First marriage proposal

Now a teenager, Alexandra began to attract the gaze of men. In 1936, the fifteen-years-old princess received her first marriage proposal: King Zog I of Albania, who wishes to marry a member of the European royalty in order to consolidate its position, asked her hand. However, the Greek diplomacy, which maintains complex relations with the Kingdom of Albania because of the possession of Northern Epirus, rejected this proposal and King Zog I eventually married the Hungarian Countess Géraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony in 1938.[33]

Like all women of her age, Alexandra participated in numerous dances, which aim to introduce her in the European elite. In 1937 she was presented in Paris, where she dances with her cousin, the Duke of Windsor, installed in France with Wallis Simpson since his abdication.[33][34]

World War II

From Venice to London

The outbreak of the Greco-Italian War on 28 October 1940 forced Alexandra and her mother to suddenly leave Venice and the fascist Italy. They settled with the rest of the royal family in Athens. Eager to serve their country in this difficult moment, both princesses became nurses alongside the other women of the royal family.[29][35] However, after several months of victorious battles against the Italian forces, Greece was gradually invaded by the army of the Nazi Germany since 6 April 1941. Alexandrea and the majority of the members of the royal family leaves the countrya few days later, on 22 April. After a brief stay in Crete, where they received a German bombing, the Greek royal family depart for Egypt and South Africa.[36][37]

While several members of the royal family are forced to spend World War II in South Africa, Alexandra and her mother obtain the permission of King George II of Greece and the British government to moving in the United Kingdom.[38] Arrived at Liverpool in the fall of 1941, they settled in London in the district of Mayfair. In the English capital, the Greek princesses resume their activities in the Red Cross.[32] Better accepted than in their own country, they are regular guests of the Duchess of Kent (born Princess Marina of Greece) and, during its permissions, of the future Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece), which was rumored to be briefly engaged with Alexandra.[39]

Love and marriage

Peter II and Alexandra.

However, it wasn't with her cousin Philip whom Alexandra finally get marry. In 1942, the princess met her third cousin,[c] King Peter II of Yugoslavia in a officers gala at Grosvenor House. The 19-years-old sovereign lived in exile in London since the invasion of his country by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. Quickly, they fall in love each other and considered marriage, which greatly delighted Princess Aspasia. However, the sharp opposition of Queen Mother Maria of Yugoslavia (Peter II's mother) and the Yugoslav government-in-exile, which deemed indecent celebrated a wedding while Yugoslavia was dismembered and occupied, prevented for a while the marital project. For two years, the lovers had only brief meetings in the residence of the Duchess of Kent.[40][41]

After a brief stay of Peter II in Cairo, Egypt, the couple finally married on 20 March 1944. The ceremony, at which the King's mother refuses to participate, was held at the Yugoslav embassy in London.[42] Marked by restrictions due to the war, Alexandra wear a wedding dress that has lent her by Lady Mary Lygon, wife of Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russia (himself the son of Princess Helen of Serbia). Among the guests at the ceremony, there are four incumbent monarchs (George VI of the United Kingdom, George II of Greece, Haakon VII of Norway and Wilhelmina of the Netherlands) and several other members of European royalty, including the two brothers of the groom (Princes Tomislav and Andrew of Yugoslavia), the mother of the bride, Elizabeth, Queen consort of the United Kingdom, Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.[41][43][44]

Queen in exile

Liberation of Yugoslavia and the communist victory

Now Queen of Yugoslavia, Alexandra, however, had tenuous links with her new country, living under the Nazi ocupation. In 1941, a large portion of the Yugoslav territory was indeed annexed by the Axis powers. Crown Prince Michael of Montenegro refused to resurrect his ancient Kingdom under Italian and German protection and guidance, and thus the region of Montenegro has been transformed into a governorate by fascist Italy.[45] Finally, the other two main parts of Yugoslavia were reduced into puppet states: the Serbia of General Milan Nedić and the Croatia of the Ustaše. As all over occupied Europe, Yugoslav civilians suffer the abuses of the invaders and collaborators who support them.[46] But, as also elsewhere, groups of resistance are gradually emerge and take control of maquis. Of these, two trends are emerging: one were the Chetniks, led by General monarchist Draža Mihailović and the other were the Partisans, led by the communist Marshal Tito.[47]

From London, the Yugoslav government-in-exile supported the struggle of the royalist forces and appoints General Mihailović as Chief Minister of War.[48] However, the importance of the Partisans gradually pushes the allied forces to trust the Communists and gave an increasingly limited help to Mihailović, accused of collaborating with the Axis powers to shoot communist guerrillas.[49] After the Tehran Conference (1943), the Allies finally break their ties with the Chetniks,[50] forcing the Yugoslav government-in-exile to recognize the preeminence of the Partisans. In June 1944, Prime Minister Ivan Šubašić officially appointed Marshal Tito as the head of the Yugoslav resistance and Mihailović was dismissed.[51] In October 1944, Churchill and Stalin conclude an agreement to split Yugoslavia into two occupation zones, but after the liberation of Belgrade by the Red Army and the Partisans, it becomes clear the Communist predominate in the country.[52] A harsh treatment, which affects the monarchists, took place;[52] at the request of Churchill, Tito agreed in March 1945 to recognize a Regency Council (which has almost no activity) but opposes the return of King Peter II,[53] who must resign to the situation and remain in exile with Alexandra while a government coalition dominated by the Communists is constituted in Belgrade.[54]

Birth of Crown Prince Alexander and Peter II's deposition

In this turbulent context, Alexandra gave birth to an heir, named Alexander after his two grandfathers, Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Alexander I of Greece. The birth takes place at the Suite 212 of Claridge's Hotel in Brook Street, London, on 17 July 1945. To enable the child to be born on Yugoslav soil, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly authorizes King George VI to issue a decree transforming, for a day, the Suite 212 in Yugoslav territory,[55][56] which was to be the only time Queen Alexandra was in Yugoslavia.[5] Some time later, the newborn Crown Prince was baptized by the Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo V in Westminster Abbey, with King George VI and his eldest daughter (the future Queen Elizabeth II) acting as godparents.[57]

The festivities marking the birth of the Crown Prince, however, were short-lived. Less than eight months after joining the coalition government, Milan Grol and Ivan Šubašić resigned to their offices of Vice-Prime Minister (18 August) and Foreign Minister (8 October), respectively, to mark their political disagreement with Marshal Tito. Faced with the rise of the Communists, King Peter II decided, to withdraw his confidence from the Regency Council and regain all his sovereign prerogatives in Yugoslavia (8 August). Tito's response was immediate: the Communist dictator immediately deprives the royal family of the civil list, which is soon to have dramatic consequences on the lives of the royal couple. Especially, Tito ordered the organization of early elections in charge of a Constituent Assembly. The campaign takes place in an irregularly way, in the middle of pressures and violence of all kinds, with the opposition decided to boycott the poll.[58] On 24 November 1945 a single list presented by the communists was proposed to voters: while there was hardly more than 10,000 Communists throughout Yugoslavia before the war, they candidates list, obtained more than 90% of the votes in the referendum.[59]

In their first meeting on 29 November 1945, the Constituent Assembly vote immediately the abolition of the monarchy and proclaimed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[59] While no referendum will accompany this institutional change, the new regime was quickly recognized by virtually all of the international countries (except Francoist Spain).[60]

Marital problems and suicide attempts

Financial and marital difficulties

Divorce attempt and reconciliation

The marriage deteriorated after the war and the declaration of a Communist republic in Yugoslavia; in the late 1940s Queen Alexandra left her husband, taking their son with her, after he had sold her jewels and most of their other remaining property.

After his death in 1970, she settled in East Sussex, where she died on 30 January 1993 after suffering for several years from cancer.[5][42]

She was buried in the former private Greek royal residence at Tatoi in Greece. In May 2013, her remains were transferred to Serbia for reburial in the crypt of the Royal Mausoleum at Oplenac. The reburial of HM King Peter II and his mother, HM Queen Maria of Yugoslavia, also took place at the same time, on 26 May 2013.[61]

Publications

She published an autobiography in 1956[62] and a biography of her fathers cousin, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1961.[63]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Royal Standard of the Queen

Titles and styles

  • 25 March 1921 – 20 March 1944: Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark
  • 20 March 1944 – 29 November 1945: Her Majesty The Queen of Yugoslavia
  • 29 November 1945 – 30 January 1993: Her Majesty Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia
    • In pretense: 29 November 1945 – 3 November 1970 : Her Majesty The Queen of Yugoslavia
    • In pretense: 3 November 1970 – 30 January 1993 : Her Majesty The Queen Mother of Yugoslavia

Honours

Ancestry

Family of Alexandra of Yugoslavia
16. Christian IX, King of Denmark
8. George I, King of the Hellenes
17. Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
4. Constantine I, King of the Hellenes
18. Grand Duke Konstantine Nicholaievich of Russia
9. Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia
19. Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg
2. Alexander I, King of the Hellenes
20. William I, German Emperor
10. Frederick III, German Emperor
21. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach
5. Princess Sophia of Prussia
22. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
11. Victoria, Princess Royal
23. Queen Victoria
1. Alexandra of Greece and Denmark
24. Konstantinos Manos
12. General Trasybulos Manos
25. Sevastia Argyropoulos
6. Colonel Petros Manos
26. Petros Mavromichalis
13. Roxane Mavromichalis
27. Princess Euphrosine Soutzos
3. Aspasia Manos
28. Dr. Periklis Argyropoulos
14. Iacobos Argyropoulos
29. Aglaia, Princess Rosetti-Răducanu
7. Maria Argyropoulos
30. Dr. Anargyros Petrakis, first mayor of Athens
15. Aspasia Anargyros Petrakis
31.

Notes

  1. ^ The ancestors of Aspasia Manos be from the high Phanariot aristocracy and she count several Voivodes of the Danubian Principalities among her ancestors; however, her rank was deemed insufficient to allow her to marry with a member of European royalty. That's why the wedding of Alexander I wasn't approved by either his family, the Hellenic Government or Metropolitan Meletius III of Greece.[3][4]
  2. ^ Greece applying a semi-Salic succession until 1952; in consequence, Alexandra can't claim the Hellenic throne.[11]
  3. ^ Both were great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, Alexandra through her paternal grandmother Sophia, Queen of the Hellenes, and Peter II through his maternal grandmother, Marie, Queen of Romania

References

  1. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, pp. 122–123.
  2. ^ Palmer and Greece 1990, p. 63.
  3. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 177.
  4. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, p. 119.
  5. ^ a b c d "Obituary: Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia". The Independent. 2 February 1993.
  6. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, pp. 124–126.
  7. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 91 and 179.
  8. ^ Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, For Love of a King, New York, Doubleday, 1956, p. 17.
  9. ^ Marlene Eilers Koenig: A girl for Aspasia Manos [retrieved 21 July 2016].
  10. ^ a b c Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 402.
  11. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 238.
  12. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, pp. 125–128.
  13. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 179.
  14. ^ Diesbach, Ghislain de (1967). Secrets of the Gotha. translated from the French by Margaret Crosland. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 225.
  15. ^ Valynseele, Joseph (1967). Les Prétendants aux trônes d'Europe (in French). Paris. p. 442.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ a b c Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 180.
  17. ^ Gelardi 2006, pp. 309–310
  18. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1973-03-06). Burke's Guide to the Royal Family. London: Burke's Peerage. ISBN 978-0-220-66222-6.
  19. ^ Vickers 2000, pp. 162–163.
  20. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, p. 137.
  21. ^ Palmer and Greece 1990, p. 67.
  22. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, p. 144.
  23. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 92, 180 and 402.
  24. ^ Gelardi 2006, p. 357.
  25. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 403 and 415–416.
  26. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, pp. 180–181.
  27. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, p. 149.
  28. ^ "Repatriation of HM Queen Alexandra Remains to Serbia". The Royal Family of Serbia. 9 May 2013.
  29. ^ a b Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 181.
  30. ^ Jeff Cotton: The Garden of Eden
  31. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, p. 153.
  32. ^ a b c Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 181, 305 and 403.
  33. ^ a b Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 403.
  34. ^ Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, For Love of a King, New York, Doubleday, 1956, p. 52.
  35. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, p. 162.
  36. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, pp. 111–113 and 181.
  37. ^ Van der Kiste 1994, pp. 162–164.
  38. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 113.
  39. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 404.
  40. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, pp. 404–406.
  41. ^ a b Van der Kiste 1994, p. 167.
  42. ^ a b "Alexandra of Yugoslavia Is Dead; Queen Without a Throne Was 71". The New York Times. 1 February 1993.
  43. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 406.
  44. ^ "Wedding of HRH Princess Alexandra of Greece & Denmark to King Peter II of Yugoslavia. 20th March 1944, London". Flickr.com.
  45. ^ Antoine Sidoti, Le Monténégro et l'Italie durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale : Histoire, mythes et réalités, CNRS Éditions, 2003, p. 64.
  46. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 90.
  47. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 93.
  48. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 94.
  49. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, pp. 101–104.
  50. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 105.
  51. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 108.
  52. ^ a b Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 111.
  53. ^ Walter R. Roberts, Tito, Mihailović, and the allies, 1941-1945, Duke University Press, 1987, pp. 312–313.
  54. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, pp. 111–115.
  55. ^ Mateos Sainz de Medrano 2004, p. 407.
  56. ^ Philippe Delorme, Les Dynasties perdues, collection "Point de vue", Express Roularta, 2011 ISBN 978-2-84343-855-4, p. 172.
  57. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 121.
  58. ^ John R. Lampe, Yugoslavia as History: Twice there was a Country, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 28 March 2000, 487 p. ISBN 0521774012, pp. 230–231.
  59. ^ a b Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 115.
  60. ^ Foran de Saint-Bar 1999, p. 116.
  61. ^ Mendick, Robert; Sawer, Patrick (28 April 2013). "Yugoslavia's exiled Queen returns home at long last". The Daily Telegraph.
  62. ^ For a king's love: the intimate recollections of Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia. London: Odhams. 1956. OCLC 752753235. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  63. ^ Prince Philip. London: May Fair. 1961. OCLC 752753242. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  64. ^ Royal Magazine
  65. ^ a b , [1] queen Alexandra wears the Star of Karađorđe on her right shoulder and star of the White Eagle on her right stomach
  66. ^ Royal Family

Sources

  • John Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellenes: The Greek Kings, 1863-1974, Sutton Publishing, 1994 ISBN 0-750-92147-1.
  • Alan Palmer and Michael of Greece, The Royal House of Greece, Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated, 1990 ISBN 0-297-83060-0.
  • Ricardo Mateos Sainz de Medrano, La Familia de la Reina Sofίa, La Dinastίa griega, la Casa de Hannover y los reales primos de Europa, Madrid, La Esfera de los Libros, 2004 ISBN 8-497-34195-3.
  • Julia Gelardi, Born to Rule : Granddaughters of Victoria, Queens of Europe, Headline Review, 2006 ISBN 0-755-31392-5.
  • Marlene Eilers König, Descendants of Queen Victoria.
  • Hugo Vickers, Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece, London, Hamish Hamilton, 2000 ISBN 0-241-13686-5.
  • Thomas de Foran de Saint-Bar, Les Karageorges, Rois de Serbie et de Yougoslavie, Éditions Christian, 1999 ISBN 286496077X.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia.
Alexandra of Yugoslavia
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 25 March 1921 Died: 30 January 1993
Yugoslavian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Maria of Yugoslavia 		Queen consort of Yugoslavia
20 March 1944 – 29 November 1945 		Monarchy abolished
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
 — TITULAR —
Queen consort of Yugoslavia
29 November 1945 – 3 November 1970 		Vacant
Title next held by
Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexandra_of_Yugoslavia&oldid=731251777"