Princess Ksenija Petrovic-Njegoš of Montenegro
22.IV.1881 – 10.III.1960
Princess Ksenija was a member of the Montenegrin Royal House of Petrović-Njegoš as a daughter of King Nikola I of Montenegro
As a young woman, Princess Ksenija’s appearance in contemporary newspapers was almost entirely the result of seemingly never-ending rumors of suitors, engagements, and marriages.
Speculated candidates included but were not limited to King Aleksandar I Obrenović of Serbia; the Royal Greek brothers Prince Nicholaos, Prince Georgios, and Prince Andreas; and Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig of Hesse, among others.
Princess Ksenija of Montenegro was born in Cettinje on Friday, April 22, 1881 as the eighth daughter of Prince Nikola I of Montenegro Russia
Ksenija's sisters were particularly noted for achieving marriages with powerful royal figures, causing their father, like his royal contemporary King Christian IX of Denmark, to earn the sobriquet ‘father-in-law of Europe’; one source declared that these advantageous marriages ‘had done more for Montenegro than all the brave deeds of this nation of warriors’.
As young girls, Ksenija's father had high hopes that she and her sister Princess Vera would marry members of the Russian Imperial family: specifically one of the sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia or one of the sons of Grand Duke Aleksandar Mikhailovich of Russia
Two of her elder sisters had already married a pair of Romanov’s, as Princess Milica was married to Grand Duke Petr Nikolaievich and Princess Anastasia had married firstly to George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg and secondly to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievich.
In 1898, Princesses Ksenija and Vera, and Crown Prince Danilo traveled with their mother to Italy in order to visit the recently married Elena of Montenegro, who had married Crown Prince Vittorio Emmanuel of Italy Naples
King Aleksandar I Obrenović of Serbia
Later that year, arrangements had been made in earnest for Xenia to wed King Aleksandar I of Serbia
King Aleksandar’s father, the dominant personality in the Obrenović family; ex-King Milan Milan had written a letter shortly before; ‘Who should let hungry Prince Nikola with his bunch of begging children occupy Serbia Serbia
Perhaps King Milan had some grounds for his fears with the European press already anticipating Aleksandar’s and Ksenija’s marriage, ‘Princess Ksenija, a perfect example of Yugoslav beauty, should soon be the future wife of the young King of Serbia
However, when Aleksandar went to the court at Cettinje to claim his soon-to-be wife, Ksenija professed such ‘disgust and horror’ at his appearance and manners that despite her father's entreaties, she refused to marry him, humiliating and angering him so much that diplomatic relations between Serbia and Montenegro were severed. Since Aleksandar’s father and Ksenija’s mothers’ influence would bar any alliance between the two houses, Nikola quickly informed Belgrade Montenegro
At the wedding of her brother, Crown Prince Danilo of Montenegro to Duchess Jutta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess Ksenija met Prince Nicholaos of Greece and Denmark, who was there representing his father King Georgios I of the Hellenes. In 1899, the betrothal of Princess Ksenija to Nicholaos was announced. However, for reasons unknown, their engagement fell apart and the couple never married. Prince Nicholaos later wed Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia
Prince Andreas, Crown Prince Constantinos & Prince Nicholaos of Greece
In 1902, rumors spread of Ksenija's engagement to Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig of Hesse und bei Rhine, who had recently divorced Princess Victoria Melita of Great Britain and Ireland Montenegro in Darmstadt Xenia would marry Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia Russia
Yet another rumor spread in 1904 that Xenia
Doubtless the promised dowry of one million rubles, her family's reputation for 'robust health,' as well as contemporary reports extolling her 'beauteous' appearance helped contribute to these royal admirers and the newspapers circulating ever more rumors about the princess. Princess Ksenija was said to be 'extremely wholesome' and in possession of a ‘sunny disposition’, and was known throughout Montenegro
Despite the countless rumors circulating about her various impending engagements and marriages, Princess Ksenija chose to remain unmarried. As Prince Nikola grew older, Ksenija served as a ‘subtle but prejudiced councilor of his later years’. In 1909, during some disagreements between Montenegro and Austria Austria for many past favors, especially concerning financial assistance, he was unsure what punishment should be given out to his daughter, and eventually decided on temporarily exiling her to France Paris
Nikola was crowned King of Montenegro on Sunday, August 28, 1910. During the Balkan campaigns of World War I, the King and his family fled to Italy after his country and Austria Austria offered were deemed to be too unacceptable in Montenegro Austria
After the fall of the Montenegrin monarchy in 1918, Princess Ksenija retired to live in France , where she survived World War II and continued to live in Paris Paris , France
After her death, her devoted work to Montenegrin photography would become the focus of a 2010 exhibit at the Slovenian Galerija Fotografija. The exhibit read:
‘The materially modest legacy of Princess Ksenija provides us with almost intimate insight into the private life of Montenegrin Princess Ksenija who has been famous for her intellect and talent but before everything she has been known as an adamant patriot. Her deep love for Montenegrin nation and homeland is expressed through images of Montenegrin everyday life which were made during the peaceful time of her life, before she found herself in an unacceptable situation of a refugee. Photographs of Princess Ksenija are images which were deeply impressed upon her memory, and that she cherished with love throughout the decades of exile, reaching out for them in the moments of despair and nostalgia. That was the Montenegro Montenegro
PRINCESS XENIA
‘HAPPY CROWN’
The Newbugh Telegram
January 28, 1911
This is the semi-official announcement doubtless inspired from the Court of Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy. Queen Helena makes no secret of her satisfaction at the outcome of this remarkable romance between the daughter of the late West Virginia millionaire and United States
So once, at least, romance is dead. Why? Did not the ardent young lovers plight eternal troth? Of course no one but they really knows, yet the report that they did was more than mere rumor. They story has it that the King of Italy was willing to give his consent. If this was true, he gave way before the united opposition of the ladies of the Royal Family. It was been said that the Duke and Miss Elkins vowed that if they count not wed each other, they would never wed anyone else. There was at least a substantial basis of truth in these reports, but just how far the romance went and just what killed it the world will probably never know.
Affections Transferred
And so the Duke of Abruzzi went away to seek solace in the wilds of Africa . Report has it that the wound in his heart has healed and that formal announcement of his engagement to the dashing, handsome, hot-headed Princess Xenia, daughter of the ruler of little Montenegro, who last August proclaimed himself King over his 800,000 subjects, may be expected to writes a correspondent of the New York World. Though the King’s income is not a fifth of that so long enjoyed by Senator Elkins, he is of royal blood. His daughter, according to foreign etiquette, is therefore quite the Duke’s equal and fit to be the wife of the man who might some day be king.
Not that the beautiful Xenia Russian Court
To begin with, Princess Xenia is best known in Europe as one of the few living women who have jilted a king. It was King Alexander of Servia who she jilted, away back in 1899, when he came a-courting to the miniature court of the then Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, now self-proclaimed King.
‘Impossible!’ Cried Princess
As it always is with royalty, the marriage had been arranged by the families in question. Whether or not the Princess Xenia would like Alexander, whom she had never seen, did not concern them; the piquant and self-willed daughter of the ruler, she was not even consulted.
Alexander had already scoured the courts of Europe for a mate. Russia and Austria Montenegro , and Nicholas, eager for more influence in the Balkans, gladly gave his consent for his daughter Xenia
In he shambled, grinning, blinking, through his heavy glasses, knock-kneed, and most unattractive. The princess gave him one glance and shuddered.
‘Mon Dieu!’ she cried in French, ‘mais vous etes impossible!’ or in polite English, she frankly told Alexander that he was impossible. It was the cry of an innocent, unspoiled young girl. The Prince was not at all rebuffed, and attempted to mumble some protest that perhaps fatigue and nervousness had overcome Her Royal Highness.
But the fame of Princess Xenia’s spirit and wondrous classic beauty had gone abroad in Europe , and many a peer and nobleman came a-courting.
Prince George of Greece was eager to marry Xenia Abruzzi
Proud Of Daughter’s Stations
There are five living daughters of King Nicholas, and three of them had made matches far in advance of anything their own Montenegro
‘It’s too bad,’ remarked the Englishman, who was a man of great importance, ‘that Montenegro
‘On the contrary,’ answered the King with spirit, ‘we have here the most beautiful articles for exportation!’
‘And what are they, your majesty?’ queried his guest.
‘Why, my daughters,’ answered Nicholas with a hearty laugh. ‘Princess Elena is Queen of Italy, Princess Militza married Grand Duke Peter of Russia, Princess Zorka, had she lived, would have been Queen of Servia, Princess Anastasia is now Grand Duchess Nicholas, and Princess Anna is, Princess Franz Joseph of Battenberg. Now you must admit that I have placed my articles of exportations very favorably on the foreign markets.’
It is only too true, and it is chiefly due to Princess Elena, now the wife of the King of Italy, that this newest royal match is about to be made. And also to the promise of an aged soothsayer in whom Xenia
Soothsayer’s Warning
No people of all Europe are so superstitious as those of Montenegro
‘The Crown of Happiness’ such is the gift she has reason to believe the Duke of Abruzzi is holding out to her. She heard the words even before she was called to meet Alexander and ever since then she has been expecting their fruition. There was an aged soothsayer who toiled about the Montenegrin mountains with his wife and daughter, telling their futures to the simple folk who dwell on the rocky slopes of the tiny kingdom.
Nicholas head of this wonderful man many years ago and bade him come to the palace.
‘I shall not come!’ was his curt answer to Nicholas’ messenger.
‘Shall we fetch him by force, Your Royal Highness?’ asked the retainers.
‘On no, let him alone in his tent!’ laughed the Prince, dismissing the matter.
Foretold The Future
But Princess Xenia had heard of this strange old man and she resolved to seek him out. She found him in his tent on a mountainside, where his wife and daughter, his tent bearers always had pitched it. A fire burned in front to shut out the chill airs of the mountain.
‘Will you tell my fortune, sir?’ asked the Princess, laying a goodly piece of silver on his outstretched palm.
‘Certainly my lady,’ and the old man, taking her pink and white hand in his.
‘I see a crown, a royal crown,’ he said, ‘no, two crowns!’
‘I see two royal crowns,’ he went on. ‘One is fatal and bloodstained, the other leads to happiness and power. I am hesitating for I do not know which of the two you should accept – the first or the second.’
On the following day the strolling soothsayer made bold to visit the palace at Cettinje and demanded that he see the Princess Xenia. The astonished flunkey at the gate would have barred the old man, but he was so insistent that the news of his visit was conveyed to the princess.
‘Admit him at once,’ ordered Xenia
‘I have come,’ said the soothsayer slowly and solemnly, ‘to warn you to refuse the first crown offered to you, no matter what it may be, because that crown will fall with blood.’
Prophecy Proved True
The warning was not forgotten. Soon afterward Xenia
‘He was right, as I knew he would be,’ declared the Princess when word of Alexander’s assassination came to Cettinje. And her father, who had been angered at her refusal of a throne, perforce had to agree with her. Xenia
‘I will take the second royal crown when it is offered me,’ she said, calmly enough. ‘It will be the crown of happiness, as the old man said, and that is what I most desire in this world!’
But the years sped on and no crown was offered. The lovely Xenia Montenegro Italy
Demi-Quaterings Of
Princess Ksenija of Montenegro
1. Princess Ksenija of Montenegro
22.IV.1881, Cetinje – 10.III.1960, Paris
Parents:
2. King Nikola I of Montenegro
7.X.1841, Njegoschi – 1.III.1921, Cap d'Antibes.
m. 8.XI.1860, Cetinje
3. Miléna Vukotitsch.
4.V./22.IV.1847 Cevo - 16.III.1923, Cap d'Antibes.
Grandparents:
4. Grand Voivode Mirko of Montenegro
10.IX/29.VIII.1820 – 1.VIII/20.VII.1867, Njegosch
m. 7.XI/26.X.1840
5. Stana Martinovic.
27/15.VI.1824 – 12.I.1895/23.XII.1894/12 January 1895, Cetinje
6. Petar Vukotic.
14 .XII.1826, Covo – 30.I.1904, Cetinje
m.
7. Jelena Voivodic.
Great-Grandparents:
8. Prince Stanko Petrovitch-Niegosch.
1790 - 1851
m.
9. Krstinja Vrbica.
10. Drago Martinovic.
11. Stana (Anastasie) Martinovic.
12. Peter Perkov Vukotic.
m.
13. Stana Milic.
14. Tadija Voivodic.
m.
15. Militza Pavicevic.
Of Princess Ksenija
The materially modest legacy of Princess Ksenija provides us with almost intimate insight into the private life of Montenegrin Princess Ksenija who has been famous for her intellect and talent but before everything she has been known as an adamant patriot. Her deep love for Montenegrin nation and homeland is expressed through images of Montenegrin everyday life which were made during the peaceful time of her life, before she found herself in an unacceptable situation of a refugee. Photographs of Princess Ksenija are images which were deeply impressed upon her memory, and that she cherished with love throughout the decades of exile, reaching out for them in the moments of despair and nostalgia. That was the Montenegro Montenegro
The photographic opus of Princess Ksenija is a very impressive work of an avid amateur, whose choice of motives; numerous snap shots and solid technical knowledge of the photographic camera have served the medium through which she has manifested her devotion and inspiration, revealing to us the bizarre beauty and originality of the Montenegrin environment. Going through her photographs, we recognize Montenegrin landscapes - wild and proud mountain peaks, warm and sandy beaches, olive groves, the thick walls of old fortifications, settlements, folk customs and festivities, anniversary commemorations and state celebrations. When touring Montenegro
These photographs had the magic power of taking her back into the past in an attempt to wrench the most beautiful moments of her life from oblivion. Her photographs do not only have the value of a photographic document but also of the author's inventiveness, talent, almost a passion for the camera lens. Despite the realistic treatment imposed by the photographic camera Ksenija's photographs are not merely dry and objective. The Princess involved herself and a part of her personality, deciding on the posture of the model, the arrangement, light... There is almost a hint of romantic sensibility characteristic of the lyrical nature of a woman whose photographs exhibit such a strong and personal attitude of Ksenija towards an object that one can clearly feel her inspiration. Her emotions expressed in her work span a wide range and they are perspicacious and manifest: she is tender and full of love when she looks upon her mother's face; she is serene but slightly pensive facing a group of young officers; she is full of delight when taking photos of Montenegrin landscapes; she is patient and beaming with joy when taking pictures of the children of her brother. Ksenija's power of perceiving strong and characteristic personalities inspired her to take frequent photos of her father whose strong and unyielding will she registered even in his most intimate moments.
Princess Ksenija's photographs are almost equally valuable as documents and an indisputable author's imprint. Aesthetic criteria, a distinctive talent and eternalized detail emanate from all of her photographs at the same time, irrespective of the motive, and whether she has photographed a portrait a composition or a simple landscape image.
NR
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