The last king who carried Yugoslavia’s royal legitimacy into exile
On 27 March 1941, Dušan Simović told him: "Your Majesty, from this moment you will exercise your full sovereign power."
Peter II became king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as a child after the assassination of his father, Alexander I, and was its last monarch. The 27 March 1941 coup ended the regency and declared him of age, but the Axis invasion soon forced him to lead a government in exile from London. His crown represented state continuity against occupation, yet the exile government’s divisions and the Partisans’ military and political victory stripped it of an effective base of power. After the monarchy was abolished in 1945, his permanent exile left unresolved the question of Yugoslavia’s political legitimacy.
Career Timeline
- 1934Acceded as king under a regency
- 1934–1941Nominal king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
- 1941.03.27Declared of age after the coup
- 1941.04–06Went into exile with the government after the Axis invasion
- 1941–1945Head of state of the Yugoslav royal government-in-exile in London
- 1944.09Called on Yugoslav forces to join Tito
- 1945Deposed when the monarchy was abolished
- 1945–1970Lived in exile in the United States
- 1970Died in Denver, United States