George, Crown Prince of Serbia

George
Crown Prince of Serbia
Official portrait
Born	(1887-08-27)27 August 1887 Cetinje, Montenegro
Died	17 October 1972(1972-10-17) (aged 85) Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Spouse	Radmila Radonjić
House	Karađorđević
Father	Peter I
Mother	Princess Zorka of Montenegro

George, Crown Prince of Serbia (Serbian: kraljević Đorđe Karađorđević; 27 August 1887 – 17 October 1972) was the eldest son of King Peter I of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Queen Ljubica (Zorka) of Montenegro. He was the older brother of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia.

In 1909, George inadvertently caused the death of his servant, and following a negative campaign in the press, he was compelled to give up his claim to the throne. He later served with distinction in the army, was severely wounded during the First World War, and thereby became popular in the country, which aroused the alarm of his younger brother. In 1925, his brother the King had him arrested, declared insane, and locked in an asylum. He remained confined there for nearly two decades, until released by the German occupying force during World War II. After that war ended, he was the only member of the royal family not to be sent into exile and declared an enemy of the state. He married in 1947, aged 60, and although he had no children, his last years were relatively happy and peaceful.

George was born a member of the House of Karađorđević. His grandfather, Alexander Karađorđević, had briefly ruled the Principality of Serbia during the period 1842-58, but he had been the first and only ruler from the family, which did not otherwise have a royal background. After being deposed in 1858, George's grandfather and his family had had to leave their homeland, and by the time of George's birth, they had been in exile for almost three decades.

George's father, Petar Karađorđević (the future King Peter I of Serbia), had made an advantageous marriage rather late in life with Ljubica (known as Zorka), the eldest daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro. After marrying the princess, he made his home in the Principality of Montenegro, and all his children were born there. Thus, George was born in Cetinje and spent the first few years of his life in the court of his maternal grandfather. He was one of five siblings, two of whom died in infancy; he therefore grew up with one older sister, Helen, and one younger brother, Alexander. In March 1890, when George was hardly two years old, his mother died in childbirth. Shortly afterwards, Petar moved his three motherless children first to Geneva (where he had lived in exile before his marriage) and then to Russia. In Russia, George studied at the Page Corps school of Tsar Alexander II.