12. Alexander I of Serbia Outraged the Country – and his Parents – When He Married Draga Mašin, a Widow Twelve Years Older Than Him
In 1889, King Milan of Serbia abdicated his throne in favor of his only son, Alexander. Two years before the expiration date, Alexander overthrew the regency of his mother, taking control of the government. Like any young man given absolute power at an early age, Alexander did not regard anyone’s opinion except his own, especially when it came to his choice of wife. In 1894, the king fell in love with his mother’s widowed lady-in-waiting, Draga Mašin. After Alexander married Draga in 1900, the king banished his mother for her disapproval.
The Serbian people saw the 36-year-old queen and her ambitious siblings as poor influences on the young king. After a false pregnancy, Alexander tried to secure the succession by elevating one of Draga’s brothers as heir-apparent. The people turned on the couple, and the army stormed the palace in June 1903. Finding Alexander and Draga hiding in a wardrobe, the soldiers shot Alexander and Draga, mutilated their bodies, and threw them out the window into a pile of manure. The assassinations outraged Europe, and Serbia’s allies refused to negotiate with the new interim government until it prosecuted the murderers.