THE CHANCELLERY OF
H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE Alexander II
OF YUGOSLAVIA

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR KING PETER II
AT THE ROYAL CHURCH OF SAINT ANDREW
THE FIRST CALLED IN THE PALACE
COMPOUND

H.M. King Peter II after taking the oath
at the Royal Palace on 28 March 1941

Belgrade, 6 September 2005 – A
memorial service was held today at
The Royal Church of Saint Andrew the
First Called, on the day when His
Majesty King Peter II was born. The
service was attended by HRH Crown
Prince Alexander II, members of The
Advisory Bodies of The Crown, and
representatives of The Association
of members of the Yugoslavian Army
in the Homeland 1941 – 1945.
The memorial service was served
by father Panayotis Karatasios, who
serves at the Chapel at the
Theological Faculty in Belgrade with
the chanting of Aleksandar
Jovanovic, student of Theology
Faculty.
After the memorial service, HRH
Crown Prince Alexander II thanked
everyone who came today to the
Church of the protector of the
Karadjordjevic Family, to pay their
respect to his father, the late King
Peter II.
“He was only eleven when his
father, King Alexander I was
assassinated in Marseilles. Since
then his life had been very
difficult, but he always had a lot
of love for our people in his heart.
The news of my father’s death came
to me in Germany were I was
stationed and three days later heard
the news on BBC Radio. Regrettably,
Karadjordjevic family and myself as
his son were the last who heard the
news.
I know my father would have loved
to see a better future for our
country and our people not working
against themselves. He was very
loyal to his people and his country.
That is why my aim is to return my
father’s remains to homeland, in
Oplenac, where they should be, and I
hope that this will be done next
year”- emphasized The Crown Prince
Alexander II.
King Peter II took over his royal
prerogatives on 27 March 1941 after
the Coup d’état. After the Kingdom
of Yugoslavia was occupied, King
Peter II and the Government were
forced to first retreat inside the
country, and then, accompanied by
high-ranking officers they left from
Montenegro – initially for Greece,
and then to Palestine and Egypt, and
eventually London. During the Second
World War King Peter II performed
his regular statesman’s activities
and visited Ally countries (USA),
and later joined the Royal Air
Force.
In March 1945, under Allies’
pressure, after a long dissent and
against his will, King Peter II
accepted to establish a tripartite
Regency, which soon appointed Tito
the Prime Minister. In November
1945, by the decision of the
Constitutional Assembly that was
elected under communist pressure in
totally undemocratic circumstances,
the monarchy was illegally abolished
without a referendum. Yugoslavia
remained a totalitarian single party
state under absolute reign of the
League of Communists for more than
four decades. The Karadjordjevic
Dynasty was deprived of Yugoslav
citizenship, all rights and all of
their property was confiscated by a
special decree of 1947.
King Peter II who was illegally
deposed never abdicated. Initially
he lived in exile in London with his
wife (he married the Greek and
Danish Princess Alexandra in 1944)
and his son Crown Prince Alexander
born in 1945. King Peter II spent
the last years of his life in
America, where he was joined by
members of numerous associations of
the former Royal Army in Homeland
and supported by the Serbian
Orthodox Church Dioceses in his
efforts to oppose to the communist
reign in the country, advocating the
restoration of democracy and
monarchy. He published his memoirs,
“A King’s Heritage” in English in
London, and they represent an
important testimony about the period
of his reign in the turbulent times
of the Second World War.
After a long and grave illness
King Peter died in Denver Hospital
Colorado 3 November 1970, and he was
buried, in the presence of an
impressive number of Serbs from the
Diaspora, at the St. Sava Church in
Libertyville Illinois. It is
expected that his remains will be
transferred to the Memorial Church
of St. George in Oplenac soon.

 

 
 

 
 

1998 HRH CP Alexander II
All Rights Reserved