Nicholas, Prince of Montenegro
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| Pretender Nicholas Petrović Njegoš |
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| Born | July 7, 1944 |
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| Regnal name claimed | Nikola II |
| Title(s) | Crown Prince |
| Throne(s) claimed | Montenegro |
| Pretend from | March 24, 1986 - present |
| Monarchy abolished | 1918 |
| Last monarch | Nikola I |
| Connection with | Great Grandson |
| Royal House | Petrović Njegoš |
| Father | Michael |
| Mother | Geneviève Prigent |
| Spouse | Francine Navarro |
| Children | Altinaï, Boris |
| Predecessor | Prince Michael |
Prince Nicholas Petrović Njegoš of Montenegro (Serbian: Престолонасљедник Никола Петровић-Његош/Prestolonasljednik Nikola Petrović-Njegoš) (born 7 July 1944) is the Head of the House of Petrović-Njegoš and pretender to the throne of Montenegro. He is known to Montenegrin monarchists and traditionalists as King Nikola II of Montenegro. Prince Nicholas is the Hereditary Grand Master of the Dynastic Orders of St. Peter of Cetinje and Prince Danilo I of Montenegro.
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[edit] Family background
The house of Petrović came originally from Herzegovina and settled in Njegoš around 1400. Niegosch was born around 1425 and became the Duke of Njegoš.
Prince Nicholas is a descendant of a line founded by Danilo Petrović Njegoš who obtained the hereditary Dignity of Vladika (Prince-Bishop) of Montenegro in 1711 when it became a (Theocracy). Danilo I Petrovic Njegos was recognized as Sovereign Prince and heir of Montenegro by Russia on 21 March, 1852, and established succession by male primogeniture. His successor, Prince Nikola assumed the qualification of Royal Highness on 19 December 1900, and the title of King 28 August 1910.
Prince Nicholas is also related to the Serb Royal House of Obrenović through Yephrem, younger full brother of Miloš Obrenović I, Prince of Serbia (elected Hereditary Prince of Serbia by the National Assembly 1827 and recognized by Sultan Mahmud II, 15 August 1830). He is the Obrenović pretender to the throne of Serbia, as he is the heir to his grandfather Prince Mirko of Montenegro, the designated successor of Alexander I of Serbia.
During World War I the Petrović Njegoš family were forced to flee the country in 1915 after the Army of Montenegro was overwhelmed by the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the end of the war, the Kingdom of Serbia annexed and abolished the Kingdom of Montenegro and deposed the Petrović Njegoš dynasty. The family made their home in France where the old King Nikola I of Montenegro died in 1921. The same year, the old King's grandson, Alexandar Karađorđević (Prince Nicholas' cousin) became king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, of which Montenegro had become a part. Though the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed on 13 November 1918, it was never recognized by King Nicholas I (Nikola I) and a Government-in-Exile was maintained by him and his successors under the Premiership of King Nicholas's former ADC and Ambassador to Washington (1918), General Anto Gvozdenović until the Conference of Ambassadors at Paris gave international recognition to the union 13 July 1922.
King Nikola I was succeeded on his death by his son, Danilo II, who abdicated after one week, and then by his grandson, King Michael I (father of the present heir) who remained in exile until his death in 1986. King Michael I became prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II after refusing to return to the throne as a puppet King.
Were the Montenegrin monarchy not defunct Nicholas would be styled “His Majesty King Nikola II of Montenegro." He has chosen to use the style and title of “His Royal Highness Crown Prince Nikola of Montenegro”, or more simply ”The Crown Prince” or “Crown Prince Nikola”.
[edit] Biography
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Prince Nikola is the only son and heir of the late pretender Michael who worked for the Communist government of Yugoslavia after the Second World War, Grand Duke of Grahovo and Zeta (born on 1 September O.S., 1908 and regarded by Montenegro's monarchists as king from 7 March 1921 until his death in 1986, although he renounced his dynasty's claim to the defunct throne of Montenegro and declared allegiance to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) and Geneviève Prigent who was born on 4 December 1919 and died on 27 January 1991. (Nikola's parents married on 27 January 1941 and divorced in Paris France on 11 August 1949). He was born in exile in Saint-Nicolas du Pélem, France in 1944 and there was schooled. In 1967 at the request of his father he visited Yugoslavia incognito and back-packed around Montenegro itself, visiting the former royal capital. A remarkable story of his visit is told on the prince's own website:
| “ | Young Nikola discovers his country one day of summer 1967. At that time a student in architecture, he hitchhikes, carries Pataugas French shoes, a backpack and doubtful shorts. When standing in queue in front of the Royal Palace of Cetinje, he remarks that students have a right to a reduction. He holds his ID card to the ticket woman who turns it over and over in her hands, changes colour, calls the curator, the director, and the guards. All turn the ID card over and over in their hands, change color and bow together before Nicolas who is astonished by such an amount of civility. "Your Royal Highness, you are not going to pay to enter your home!" Nicolas realises then that to be called Nikola Petrovic-Njegos in the Balkans, is as for French to descend from Pasteur, Victor Hugo and Napoleon. His name, venerated by all the Southern Slavs, does not belong to him. It belongs to the Balkans. | ” |
[1] Reportedly, shortly after this he was arrested, briefly detained and then deported by the predictably anxious local Communist Yugoslav authorities.
Professionally, apart from being a pretender king, he is an architect and the founder and president of the Cetinje Biennale of Contemporary Art [2]. His children both enjoy artistic vocations.
Nikola never renounced his dynastic right to the throne. He has taken an active interest in the future of his homeland by illegally denouncing claims on Montenegrin private property owned by members of the Serbian royal family (whose head is the grandson of Nikola's first cousin) in 2002 and actively encouraging the people of Montenegro to vote for independence in 2006. He is now free to travel to his homeland and in time might return there to live;
| “ | Polling station number 23 was located in one of Cetinje’s chess clubs. Inside, we found Prince Nikola Petrovic Njegos, a descendent of the Petrovic dynasty that were dethroned in 1918. He expressed his hope that his family name would be finally cleared. | ” |
“Mr Djukanovic said that it would be an obligation of a new Montenegrin state to rehabilitate the name of the dynasty,” he said. Mr Petrovic-Njegos, an architect living in Paris, said he had no political ambitions, but “if Montenegrins tomorrow decide to return to the monarchy, I won’t say no.” He added that he hopes he could reach a gentleman’s agreement with the government over the property belonging to his family.
Later on he walked to his grandfather's palace in Cetinje, now turned into a museum, where he greeted the group of French tourists with the words "welcome to my home." [1]
[edit] Education
HRH Prince Nicholas was educated in France.
In 1964 he was admitted to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and between 1965 and 1967 he attended training courses in several architects practices.
Between 1967 and 1971 The Prince assisted on several architectural projects, including a winter sports resort in Avoriaz, France, and with Shamaï Haber on several university science faculties.
In 1971 The Prince was awarded a Diploma in Architecture and admitted to the Société Française des Architectes.
[edit] Marriage and children
In 1976 he married Francine Navarro in Trebeurden, Côtes-du-Nord on 27 November. Together they raised a family at Les Lilas, France;
- Prince Boris of Montenegro (Petrovic-Njegoš), Grand Duke of Grahovo and Zeta, born at Les Lilas on 21 January 1980 and
- Princess Altinaï of Montenegro, born at Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis on 27 October 1977.
[edit] Decorations and honours
| Styles of HRH Prince Nikola of Montenegro |
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| Reference style | His Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Sir |
Montenegrin Decorations:
- Grand Master and Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje (OStP)
- Grand Master and Knight Grand Cross with Diamond Star and Collar of the Order of Prince Danilo I of Montenegro (GCDO)
Foreign Decorations:
- Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
- Grand Cross Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Savoy
- Grand Cross Order of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Viçosa, Portugal
- Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I, Two Sicilies
- Golden Medal of Honour of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Two Sicilies.
Foreign Honours:
- Honorary citizen of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy (June 23, 2007)[3]
[edit] Coat of Arms
The Prince bears the Royal Montenegrin Coat of Arms. It can be seen on the Crown Prince's shield on King Nikola's Palace in Cetinje.
The Royal Coat of Arms is born by the heirs to the throne, and differs to the Coat of Arms of the Petrović Njegoš family.
The history of the Royal Coat of Arms begins with the Crnojevics dynasty in the 15th century. Their family arms - golden crowned two-headed eagle on a red background - laid the foundation of the Montenegrin state heraldry: the two-headed eagle became the standard symbol of the state. After gaining power, the Petrović Njegoš dynasty took the golden two-headed eagle as the state symbol. Prince-bishop (Vladika) Danilo charged on its breast the Great Arms of the Petrović Njegoš family (shield, crown, mantling), while his successor Prince-bishop Sava made major changes to the coat of arms: removed the family Great Arms from the eagle's breast, and added the scepter and saru ("the imperial egg") in its claws. He also added another symbol retained until the present day - the golden lion passant - below the golden eagle. With Prince-bishop Petar I, further rearrangement of the coat of arms took place: from the eagle he removed the royal insignia and charged on the eagle's breast the Middle Arms of the Petrović Njegoš (the shield with the crown) while leaving the lion passant.
Prince Danilo also reorganized the Royal Coat of Arms: he charged on the golden eagle's breast the shield where on the blue background the golden lion passant was on green ground. In one claw the eagle held the saru, and in the other a sword and the scepter.
King Nikola I removed the sword, and later, in conformity with the Constitution of 1905, the color of the eagle was changed from golden to silver as well as the background of the shield with the lion - to red instead of blue.
The Constitution of 2007 maintained "the tradition" of King Nikola I: the adopted Coat of Arms was a crowned silver eagle with the sara in one and the scepter in the other claw, and charged on its breast was a red shield with the lion passant.
[edit] Royal Standard
In the Prince’s standard there is a red background bordered by white, with the double-headed eagle and the initials in Cyrillic N. I. I. (Nikola II) on its breast, with the lion passant underneath. This standard is flown over the Prince’s palace at Cetinje. It is also used as a distinguishing mark on vehicles, ships, aircraft and in the Military. The other version is a Serb tricolor with initials NII and a crown on top.
[edit] Annual Allowance
The Prince and the Royal Family currently receives no sum as part of the government of Montenegro’s annual budget. The Prince’s staff and his personal expenditure are financed by private wealth and gift.
The Montenegrin Royal Family currently pays tax in their respective domiciles. The Royal Family is required by law to comply with the standard regulations concerning payment of death duties and inheritance tax.
[edit] Radio-interviews and documentary films
- The Njegoskij Fund Network: "A Prince in Paris", radio-interview by Sonia Zoran for the Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) - La Première (Switzerland, May 27, 2007).
- The Njegoskij Fund Network: "The man who did not want to be king", documentary film by Anne Georget for France 3 TV channel (France, September 16, 1995).
- The Njegoskij Fund Network: "The 1991’s appeal of Prince Nicolas Petrovitch Njegosh" on Radio France Internationale (RFI) (France, 1991).
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Order of Prince Danilo I Official website of the Royal House of Montenegro and dynastic Orders.
- The Njegoskij Fund Network The Royal House of Montenegro | News and medias.
- Flags of the World Flags of the World.
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Nicholas, Prince of Montenegro
Born: July 7 1944 |
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| Preceded by Prince Michael |
— TITULAR — King of Montenegro March 24, 1986 – present Reason for succession failure: Montenegro declared union with Serbia in 1918 |
Incumbent Designated heir: Prince Boris |
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King Nicholas I (1918-1921) |
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