King Peter II of Yugoslavia was the firstborn son of King Alexander I and Queen Maria of Yugoslavia. King Peter II was born in Belgrade on 6 September 1923, and after his father’s assassination in 1934, he became the King of Yugoslavia.
On Wednesday, Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia, attended the memorial service on the 51st anniversary of King Peter II’s death in the Mausoleum of the Royal Family at Saint George’s Church in Oplenac.
Following the service Crown, Prince Alexander laid a wreath on the tomb of his late father and held a speech. The Crown Prince said: “I am always emotional on this day. It is a sad anniversary for me, especially when I remember the difficult life my father had, not being able to be with his people in his beloved homeland, because of the well-known events in our country after World War II ended. I know how much he longed to come back home, to breathe the Serbian air and be able to spend time in the homeland with his countrymen, as our ancestors did. Being the dynasty that came from the people, we always feel that need to have a direct connection with our people and with our place of origin”.
King Peter was deposed by the occupying Nazi-government in 1941. He was forced to leave the country, and he joined other monarchs and leaders of German-occupied Europe in London in June 1941. There, King Peter was regarded by the people of Yugoslavia as the symbol of resistance against Nazism, and he worked hard on getting the Allies’ support for the fight of the people of Yugoslavia against the occupying forces. After the war, the communist regime forbade the royal family’s return to Yugoslavia, removed their citizenship, and confiscated their private property. However, King Peter II never abdicated.
The King spent the last years of his life in the United States. He died on 3 November 1970 in Denver Hospital, Colorado, and he was buried at the St. Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois. The King’s remains were transferred to Royal Palace Chapel in Belgrade on 22 January 2013. A State Funeral took place on 26 May 2013 at the royal family mausoleum, where His Majesty joined other members of the royal family interned the royal mausoleum.
Crown Prince Alexander concluded his speech: “It brings me comfort when I know that now, since 2013, King Peter II finally found his eternal peace here in Sumadija, together with other members of the royal family. Dear father, you will always be in my prayers and in my heart.”
