Paul

  
Rusland, 1893-1976

Prinseregent for sin nevø kong Peter II i Jugoslavien fra 1934-1941.

Paul tjente som regent for kong Peter II fra 1934 indtil han blev afsat den 27. marts 1941 i et blodløst kup. Paul arbejede for jugoslavisk neutralitet idet han mente at landet militært ser var ude af stand tiol at kæmpe mod tyskerne. Mens tros allieret pres og i modsætning til følelserne i store dele af hans folk og væbnede styrker, gav Paul efter for tyske trusler og underskrev en hemmelig pagt med Aksemagterne den 25. marts 1941. To dage senere iværksatte lederen for Jugoslaviens væbnede styrker, Simovic, planer for en militær magtover-tagelse og gav Peter II magten til at herske over landet. Paul og hans familie rejste til Grækenland samme nat. (WA/81)

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Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (>April 27, 1893, >Saint Petersburg, Russia – September 11, 1976, Paris, France) of the Royal House of Karadjordjevic was regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia for his nephew, King Peter II. He is known in Serbian and Croatian as Павле Карађорђевић Pavle Karađorđević and Slovenian as Pavel Karađorđević.

Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was the only son of Prince Arsen and Princess Aurora Demidov. He was married with Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark in 1923. George VI of the United Kingdom, as Duke of York, had been his best man at his wedding in Belgrade. Prince Paul was brother-in-law of Prince George, Duke of Kent and a Knight of the Garter. He was educated at University of Oxford and his closest friends and outlook on life were said to be British.

He took the regency on 9 October 1934 after King Alexander's assassination in Marseille and ruled the country until he decided to sign the Tripartite Pact with the World War II Axis Powers in Vienna on 25 March 1941. Because of his decision, massive demonstrations took place in Belgrade and, after this, his nephew, together with a group of pro-English officers and middle class politicians, made a coup d'état on 27 March 1941. General Dušan Simović became prime minister and Yugoslavia backed out of the Axis sphere in all but name.

Although the new rulers opposed Germany, they also feared that if Hitler attacked Yugoslavia, the United Kingdom was not in any real position to help. For the safety of the country, they declared that Yugoslavia would adhere to the Tripartite Pact. However, Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia anyway and the royal family escaped abroad, Prince Paul included.

For the remainder of the war, Prince Paul was kept, with his family, under house arrest by the British in South Africa.

Princess Elizabeth, his only daughter, obtained and published information from the Special Operations Executive files in the Foreign Office in London and published them in Belgrade, in the 1990 edition of the Serbian-language biography of her father. The original book Paul of Yugoslavia was written by Neil Balfour and the first was published by Eaglet Publishing in London in 1980.

Prince Paul died in Paris on September 11, 1976 without ever returning to Yugoslavia.

Prince Paul is father of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia, and grandfather of American actress Catherine Oxenberg.

Fader: prins Arsen
Moder: prinsesse Aurora Demidov
Hustru: prinsesse Olga af Grækenland og Danmark