Maria Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, known in Serbian as Marija Karađorđević was the Queen of Yugoslavia as the wife of King Alexander.
Background
Maria was born in Gotha, a town in Thuringia, in the German Empire, during the reigns of her maternal grandfather Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her grand-uncle King Carol I of Romania, and her great grandmother Queen Victoria. She was known as Mignon in the family to distinguish her from her mother.
Career
Her citizenship was revoked and her property confiscated by the Yugoslavian Communist regime in 1947, but she was "rehabilitated" in 2014. Her parents were Marie of Edinburgh and Ferdinand of Romania. During World War I, she worked as a nurse with her mother.
Maria married Alexander I of Yugoslavia, King of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in Belgrade on 8 June 1922, and had three sons: Queen Maria was popular and respected by the Serbian public, and is still well thought of in the region.
She was engaged in several social projects. In the eyes of the Serbian people, she remains one of the greateast patrons of charities in Serbia.
Streets are named in her memory, such as “Ulica kraljice Marije” or “Queen Maria Street”, and numerous schools and other organizations still carry her name. Titles and styles 6 January 1900 – 8 June 1922: Her Royal Highness Princess Maria of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 8 June 1922 – 6 January 1929: Her Majesty The Queen of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 6 January 1929 – 9 October 1934: Her Majesty The Queen of Yugoslavia 9 October 1934 – 29 November 1945: Her Majesty Queen Maria of Yugoslavia 29 November 1945 – 22 June 1961 in pretense: Her Majesty Queen Maria of Yugoslavia Honours.