Hoy se cumplen cincuenta años de la muerte del rey Pedro II de Yugoslavia, el 3 de noviembre de 1970. El despacho del príncipe heredero de Serbia, Alejandro II, hijo único del rey, emitió el siguiente comunicado el 2 de noviembre de 2020:
Mañana martes 3 de noviembre de 2020, Su Gracia, el Obispo Jovan de Sumadija, oficiará una ceremonia conmemorativa en memoria de Su Majestad el Rey Pedro II (hijo del gran unificador Su Majestad el Rey Alejandro I) en la Iglesia de San Jorge en Oplenac.
Según el protocolo, la primera corona floral será depositada por el Sr. Dragomir Acovic, Presidente de los Órganos Consultivos de la Corona, en nombre de Su Alteza Real el Príncipe Heredero Alejandro, Jefe de la Familia Real Serbia (hijo de Su Majestad el Rey Pedro II) en la tumba del difunto Rey.
En Nueva York, Su Gracia, el Obispo Irinej de América del Este, oficiará un servicio conmemorativo para Su Majestad el Rey Pedro II en presencia de Sus Altezas Reales el Príncipe Heredero Alexander y la Princesa Heredera Katherine, quienes encenderán velas en memoria del padre del Príncipe Heredero, Su Majestad el Rey Pedro II, en la Catedral Ortodoxa Serbia de San Sava. Su Majestad el Rey Pedro II era muy cercano a la catedral durante su estancia en los Estados Unidos.
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| El rey Pedro II de Yugoslavia en Londres, 1968. |
El jueves 5 de noviembre de 1970, el teniente coronel C. Stojilkovic, miembro de la Real Fuerza Aérea Yugoslava y ex miembro del personal del último rey de Yugoslavia, anunció que Su Majestad el Rey Pedro II de Yugoslavia había muerto el martes 3 de noviembre de 1970 en Los Ángeles, California, en el hospital tras sufrir una insuficiencia cardiorrespiratoria causada por una neumonía. El rey tenía cuarenta y siete años y había residido en Playa del Rey, California. Pedro había estado residiendo allí con el Dr. Frank Lowe y su esposa. La demora en anunciar la muerte del rey se atribuyó al hecho de que su séquito tuvo que esperar para ponerse en contacto con su pariente más cercano. Se informó de que desde abril de 1970, el rey Pedro había estado entrando y saliendo del hospital en Los Ángeles, sufriendo problemas renales y otras dolencias que se produjeron cuando se le diagnosticó neumonía en septiembre de 1970. El rey Pedro II de Yugoslavia estuvo en capilla ardiente durante varios días en la iglesia ortodoxa serbia de Cristo Salvador en Arcadia, California. Su abogado, Sam Silverstein, señaló que el testamento del rey estipulaba que el monarca fuera enterrado en el Monasterio Ortodoxo Serbio en Libertyville, Illinois.
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| El rey Pedro II y la reina Alejandra de Yugoslavia en París, 1967. |
King Peter’s widow, Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia (née Greece), his son Crown Prince Alexander, and his brother Prince Tomislav had filed a court motion at the Los Angeles Superior Court challenging the Libertyville burial. The royals stated that Peter had wanted to be buried in London. Queen Alexandra and Crown Prince Alexander also filed a motion in the Lake County, Illinois, Circuit Court asking that the funeral services for King Peter be performed by Bishop Firmilian Ocokoljich, who served as chaplain to the royal family in London during World War II. The family’s attorney, Thomas J Karacic, stated that it would be “sacrilegious” to have services for the king be performed by the group controlling the Saint Sava Monastery near Libertyville. The North American diocese opposed the government of Yugoslavia, while the Serbian Orthodox Patriarch in Belgrade did not. Mr Karacic noted that if services went ahead under the Saint Sava leadership, then Queen Alexandra, Crown Prince Alexander, and Prince Tomislav would boycott the ceremony. Alas, Circuit Court Judge L Erie Carey ruled that the services would be conducted at the monastery by Bishop Iriney and Bishop Dionisije, in accordance with the king’s wishes.
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| The funeral service of King Peter II of Yugoslavia at Saint Sava in Libertyville, Illinois. |
On 15 November 1970, around fifteen thousand mourners filed past the bier in the Byzantine chapel of Saint Sava’s Eastern Orthodox Church in Libertyville, IL, to render their last homage to their late king. The king’s body lay in a brown, metallic coffin, the front half covered with glass. Clad in a Yugoslav Air Force uniform, he looked more like an eighty year-old than his age of 47, it was written. A World War II amputee who had served in the king’s armed forces said, “He was an unhappy man. He helped thwart Hitler’s movement into Russia and then his country was given the Russians.” Bishop Iriney of Pennsylvania delivered a moving eulogy: “He was a unique and unusual man and he lived and reigned under even more unusual circumstances. One of his brothers wanted him to be buried in Westminster Abbey in London. King Peter could have been buried there with the rulers and all the dignitaries of the world in attendance. Instead, he rejected world glamour and brought himself to the level of his people. His choice to be with the Serbian people and lead them against the Axis war machine was of great historical importance. He delayed Hitler three months in attacking the Soviet Union. He could have stayed in the palace and enjoyed the everyday privileges of the royalty. He knew that any resistance would result in the sacrifice of many lives and wholesale destruction. But he also knew that any temporary security for himself and his people would result in the erosion of his people’s essential liberties.” Neither Queen Alexandra, who was estranged from her husband, nor Crown Prince Alexandra attended the funeral of King Peter in Illinois. The only member of the king’s family to attend his burial was his youngest brother Prince Andrej.
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| The grave of King Peter II of Yugoslavia at Saint Sava’s Eastern Orthodox Monastery in Libertyville. |
It was not until Friday, 20 November 1970, that it emerged through Denver Post reporting that King Peter II of Yugoslavia had actually died at Denver General Hospital on 3 November. The king had been admitted to Denver General on 7 October and on 8 October underwent a liver transplant. Peter had been suffering from advanced cirrhosis of the liver for some years, and on 7 October the king had been flown from California via a private chartered jet to Denver, where he underwent the transplant surgery the next day. The liver intended to prolong the monarch’s life had come from Barbara Virginia Peterson, aged fifteen, who died on 7 October after an automobile accident on 3 October in Garden Grove, California. The Denver Post reported that Peter had died in hospital while still recovering from the operation. On his death certificate, which was filed with the Colorado Health Department, the king’s name was given as Peter Petrovich. Following his death, the king’s body was immediately flown by private jet back to Los Angeles. A friend of the royal family gave the following statement: “He [King Peter] had been in and out of hospitals (John Wesley and Queen of Angels) most of the year, and the doctors were trying to keep him alive long enough to find a donor for a liver transplant. When an acceptable donor was located in Denver, he was flown there.” When questioned as to why the truth behind the king’s death was not given earlier, the source replied, “Because the queen [Alexandra] had kept up the pretext of his being here [in California], and she couldn’t very well suddenly admit he’d been in Denver for almost a month. Besides, she didn’t want to discourage potential liver transplant recipients and donors.” At the time of King Peter’s death, his wife Queen Alexandra was living in Venice, Italy.
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| Crown Prince Alexander at the memorial service held in London for his father King Peter. |
Crown Prince Alexander attended a memorial service for his late father King Peter at the Serbian Orthodox Church in Notting Hill, London, on 11 August 1971.
On 26 May 2020, King Peter II of Yugoslavia was reburied in the mausoleum of the Karadjordjević dynasty at the Church of Saint George in Oplenac. Along with the king, Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia (his wife), Queen Marie of Yugoslavia (his mother), and Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia (his younger brother) were also reburied in the family mausoleum.
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Crown Prince Peter of Yugoslavia was born at Belgrade on 6 September 1923 as the eldest son of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and his wife Queen Marie (born Princess of Romania). Peter was joined by two younger brothers: Prince Tomislav and Prince Andrej. The crown prince became King Peter II of Yugoslavia in 1934 after the assassination of his father Alexander. In 1945, Peter lost his throne due to the Communist takeover of Yugoslavia in the aftermath of World War II.
En 1944, el rey Pedro II de Yugoslavia se casó con la princesa Alejandra de Grecia (1921-1993), hija del rey Alejandro I de Grecia y su esposa, la princesa Aspasia de Grecia (de soltera Manos). El rey Pedro y la reina Alejandra tuvieron un hijo, el príncipe heredero Alejandro II de Serbia (nacido en 1945).
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