THE ROYAL RESIDENCES

The Royal Family of Yugoslavia and Serbia have official and private residencies in Belgrade and in the provinces.

Belgrade

In Belgrade The Royal Family resided in the City Palaces (Old and New Palace) and in The Palaces of Dedinje (The Royal Palace and The White Palace).

The City Palaces

The City Palaces are located in the center of Belgrade. At the beginning of the 20th Century the palaces consisted of the Old Konak and at that time The New Palace, known today as The Old Palace. Eventually the Old Konak building was removed and it was substituted with the New Palace. In between the Old Palace and the New Palaces there stood another structure between World War I and World War II containing the offices of the Marshal of the Royal Court, Aides-de-Camps, Guards and Duty Officers, as well as garages and the Royal Mews. The park was surrounded by an iron fence and stone guard posts. Today the park still has some interesting botanical specimens.

The Old Palace

This palace was built in 1882 in academic style with renaissance decoration of the facades. The architect was Aleksandar Bugarski. The palace was a representative building originally embellished with two cupolas topped with large gilded royal crowns. Since the palace was heavily damaged last century in both World Wars the cupolas are missing today and the entire appearance of The Old Palace has somewhat changed. Some parts of the Palace are demolished (for example the palace chapel), other parts have dramatically changed appearance and are today unrecognizable (the grand staircase, the throne room, etc.).

The Old Palace was the official royal residence, but it was temporarily put to other use in 1919 and 1920 by the parliament of the kingdom. The Old Palace was also used for official receptions and other state functions.

The New Palace

This New Palace is adjacent to the Old Palace and it was built during the Balkan Wars and World War I. The architect was Stojan Titelbah and the unfinished palace was heavily damaged during the Austrian bombing of Belgrade so that reconstruction had to take place before the court officially moved in. The New Palace was put to regular use from 1922 until the completion of The Royal Palace of Dedinje and it was the official home of King Alexander I and Queen Maria. The New Palace was the living quarters of the Royal Couple and King's Cabinet and it was here that King and Queen entertained their private guests. After the assassination of King Alexander I in Marseilles in 1934 The New Palace was used as temporary location for the Museum of Prince Paul.

Temporary Palaces

Owing to the tremendous destruction of Belgrade during World War I the city palaces could not be used and repair took several years. Other locations had to be used as temporary Royal Palaces. A location that was used was the Krsmanovich House near Belgrade's Terazije Place and this became the residence of Prince Regent Alexander (later HM King Alexander I) in 1918 and 1919. It was in Krsmanovich House where the proclamation of the Union of the Southern Slavs into the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes took place. Another small suburban villa at the foot of the Topchider Hill was used as the temporary residence of King Peter I and this where he died in 1921.