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| Peter II of Yugoslavia |
By Jean DuBois
ROME-RUTHENIA 24 July 2023 (NRom)
Among the most treasured aspects of the Slavic heritage of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church and the Pontifical Imperial State of Rome-Ruthenia is the legacy of Yugoslavia. The last King to reign there (albeit briefly) was King Peter II of Yugoslavia. The King, a second-great-grandson of Queen Victoria and also of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, came to the throne at the age of 11 upon his father's assassination in 1934. He was forced into exile by the Nazis shortly after coming of age. Peter II's godfather was George VI of England.
After some time in England, Peter II came to the United States in 1948 and settled in Chicago, where he lived more or less for the rest of his life. The king died on 3 November 1970 in Colorado after battling a long illness. He was buried at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois, an area known for its Serbian ex-patriate community. In 2013, however, it was arranged for his body to be reinterrd in Serbia at the Royal Mausoleum of Oplenac.
While in the United States, Peter II, exercising his sovereign rights, established the honour of Knight Bachelor of Yugoslavia. This was organised into a society known as the Royal Association of Knights Bachelor, with the King as its Royal Protector. Today the Apostolic See of Saints Stephen and Mark is among those entitled to grant the title of Knight Bachelor of Yugoslavia - an honour rarely conferred. Various documents pertaining to the honour are also held in the Stephenian Archives.
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| Emblem of the Pontifical Order of Knights Bachelor of Yugoslavia |
The Pontifical Order of Knights Bachelor of Yugoslavia is a religious association serving as a successor to the Royal Association of Knights Bachelor of Yugoslavia founded by H.M. Peter II, the last reigning King of Yugoslavia. The order was founded under the protection and authority of the Pontifical Imperial State of Rome-Ruthenia, United Roman-Ruthenian Church. It counts among its foundational legacy a nobleman who is a Knight Bachelor of Yugoslavia and knew King Peter II. Coupled with the Stephenian Archives, it maintains rare records of Peter II and the honour of Yugoslavian Knight Bachelor.
See more online, including copies of documents held in the Stephenian Archives, at:
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