When the horrors of the First World War slowly began to fade and when the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was created, Aleksandar Karađorđević was already an "old guy" - he was 34 years old and since 1921 he has been a king, but without a queen. That is why the matter of his marriage soon became not only a personal matter of the young monarch but also a serious state issue.
As the monarch's wedding is never just his personal business, the political leadership of the newly created state also joined the choice of a wife for the Yugoslav king. The main question was whether the queen should be "from the people" or it is better to choose a princess or a princess from European courts.
As in the Karadjordjevic dynasty the custom of marrying Serbian women prevailed until then, it was concluded that it would be good for King Alexander to choose a "foreigner" and thus at the same time "ennoble the dynasty" and raise the international reputation of the kingdom.
State matchmakers thus scattered around the courts of the Old Continent and the choice soon fell on the Romanian Princess Maria, one of the most beautiful and most educated princesses of the then Europe.
Apart from beauty and education, this lady also had a very high origin - she was born as the third child of Romanian King Ferdinand, her maternal grandmother was the sister of Russian Tsar Alexander III, and her maternal grandfather was the second son of British Queen Victoria.
She was nicknamed Mignon, and was educated at the most prestigious schools. In addition to Romanian, she spoke English, German and French.
The Yugoslav suitors immediately rushed to the Romanian court. Although it was a "arranged marriage", the story says that the princess agreed as soon as they showed her photos of King Alexander. And not only that!
Marija immediately started learning the Serbian language and by the time she left for Belgrade, she already knew the basics and could communicate.
A fairytale wedding:
The wedding was scheduled in a relatively short time, and it was necessary to prepare everything for the arrival of a large number of foreign guests.
Many countries sent their envoys to the royal wedding in Belgrade. Representatives were even sent by Persia, and even distant Japan, and a guest from Austria arrived, with whom Serbia was at war until four years ago. After the bride and her parents, the king sent his yacht "Aleksandar" along the Danube to Orshava with a huge escort. The landing of the ship in the port in Belgrade was greeted by cannons from Kalemegdan, and the groom Aleksandar welcomed his chosen one, father-in-law and mother-in-law.
With a new limousine, the king took his fiancée to the court chambers. The wedding was scheduled for the next day.
They say that the popularity of the future Queen Mary among the people began at the moment when, from the balcony of the Old Palace, after she came to her new homeland for the first time, she greeted the gathered in Serbian, saying: "I thank you from the bottom of my heart!".
Hundreds of thousands of Belgraders and guests greeted the beautiful, fashionably dressed princess with applause, and they continued the next day. At the wedding in the Cathedral, when the patriarch asked if she was taking Alexander as her husband, Marija said in Serbian: “I will! That!".
After the festive lunch, the newlyweds attended the military parade, and a friendly football match between the national teams of Yugoslavia and Romania was organized.
That same evening, in a ceremoniously decorated train, the royal couple traveled on a honeymoon to Slovenia, to Bled.
Queen Mary and King Alexander soon became role models for all European royal couples. They lived in harmony and seclusion, and the marriage was rewarded with three sons - Peter, Tomislav and Andrej.
It didn't take long for Queen Marija to buy the hearts of the ladies of Belgrade with her elegance and kindness. But even more than that - she was loved by ordinary women, citizens as well as peasants, and she gave them back by opening schools, hospitals, kindergartens and donating money to charities. She was a great patron of the Circle of Serbian Sisters, and helped hard-working, poor students to continue their education.
Queen Mary's happiness was clouded by two events. The first happened one October day in 1934, when King Alexander was assassinated in Marseilles.
The queen endured her pain with dignity and silence, becoming a widow with three sons at the age of 34, of whom the eldest had 11 and was to become king. She wore black for two years completely turning to her sons ’education and charity work during that time.
In the years that followed, she took care of the Red Cross Society, signed the Charter of the Rights of the Child, and donated to dozens of humanitarian organizations. Queen Marija used personal funds to help build the Children's Clinic in Tirsova Street and the Institute of Oncology.
Another event that did irreversibly change the life of the "people's queen" was the beginning of the Second World War and her departure from Yugoslavia 1941
After World War II, she lived modestly in England on a Kent estate.
She died on June 22, 1961 in London and was buried in Frogmore Royal Cemetery in Windsor. Her remains were exhumed and transferred to Serbia on April 29, 2013, and on May 26, 2013, as part of the state funeral, they were buried in Oplenac. By the decision of the High Court in Belgrade, she was rehabilitated on April 14, 2014
Nas inovator i kralj Aleksandar bili su prijatelji. Kao djeca su se skupa igrali na Bledu.Možda i zato za putovanje izabrao je Bled. Divno je bilo ovo čitati.