Milan Obrenović (Milan I of Serbia)

Overview

Milan Obrenović (1854–1901), Prince of Serbia from 1868 and King of Serbia (as Milan I) from 1882 until his abdication in 1889. On 17 October 1875 (New Style; 5 October Old Style) he married, in Belgrade, Natalija Keško, the girl Marie calls "Kechko", who was his second cousin (Wikipedia, "Milan I of Serbia"; "Natalie of Serbia").

Relevance to Marie

Marie never meets him. He matters to her as the prince who turns "Kechko", a girl of her own age and milieu whom she sees in Paris, into a reigning princess "comme par un coup de baguette". The engagement and wedding feed her envy and her sense that "il pleut des bonheurs" on everyone but her.

References in Diary

• 29 August 1875, Paris (040.0143): "La bienheureuse épouse le prince de Serbie, un prince presque régnant."
• 5 September 1875, Paris (041.0144): Kechko at church, "son futur mariage avec le prince Milan de Serbie lui a donné des airs de reine de théâtre."
• 25 October 1875 (048.0051): "Les splendeurs des noces du prince Milan de Serbie avec Kechko m'ont peu fâchée."
• 15 March 1883 (098.0505): Alexis Karageorgevitch's cousin Pierre "va être un de ces jours roi de Serbie car la Russie renversera Milan".

Related Entries

• #Kechko — his bride, Natalija Keško
• #Serbia

Sources

• Wikipedia, "Milan I of Serbia".
• Wikipedia, "Natalie of Serbia".