H.M. King Peter II of Yugoslavia

King Peter II of Yugoslavia
(art commissioned by the Pontifical Order of Knights Bachelor of Yugoslavia)

YUGOSLAVIAN HERITAGE
of the
UNITED ROMAN-RUTHENIAN CHURCH
and the
PONTIFICAL IMPERIAL STATE OF ROME-RUTHENIA

Scheduled to be in print from St. George Seminary Press in early 2023, Journey of Faith: The Apostolic See of Saints Stephen and Mark, by Rutherford I is a history of the present See and its people - those who went before us, laying the groundwork over the last decades and past centuries, and those who keep the faith today.

King Peter II of Yugoslavia (left) and King George of Greece (right) at the signing of an accord to establish a customs and economic union between Yugoslavia after the Second World War. The original photograph is
held in the Stephenian Archives of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church.

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. (Pontifical Order of Knights Bachelor of Yugoslavia.)

King George VI of England with his godson, King Peter II of Yugoslavia

King Peter II with British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill

Excerpt of a brevet of Peter II conferring the honour of
Knight Bachelor of Yugoslavia.

Document of King Peter II of Yugoslavia appointing the
Knight Chancellor of the Royal Association of Knights Bachelor,
signed by the King.

Document of Peter II pertaining to the customs of
Knights Bachelor of Yugoslavia, signed by the King.

Excerpt of the statutes of the Royal Association of Knights Bachelor,
signed by King Peter II of Yugoslavia.

King Peter II with Yugoslavia royal regalia.