Danilo Aleksandar Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyrl, Данило Александар Петровић-Његош; 29 June 1872 – 24 September 1939) was the Crown Prince of

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. He was the eldest son of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and Queen Milena Vukotić.

Life

During the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he led the Montenegrin Army with his father (the King),

Janko Vukotić Janko Vukotić ( sr-cyr, Јанко Вукотић; 18 February 1866 – 4 February 1927) was a Montenegrin serdar, general in the armies of the Principality and Kingdom of Montenegro in the Balkan Wars and World War I. Biography Vukotić was ...

, and Mitar Martinović. On 1 March 1921 Danilo was proclaimed the rightful King of Montenegro (upon the death of his father) and became head of the government-in-exile until 7 March 1921 when, for reasons that are still unclear, Danilo renounced his royal claims and headship of the royal house in favour of his nephew,

Prince Michael of Montenegro Prince Michael Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro (; 14 September 1908 – 24 March 1986) was the third (but eldest surviving) son of Prince Mirko of Montenegro, Grand Voivode of Grahovo and Zeta (1879–1918), and Natalija Konstantinović, a ...

. His reputation was undermined by announcing his renunciation on 5 March only to publicly retract this the following day, before re-affirming it the day after that. His decision was met with much dismay amongst the Montenegrin expatriate community. After his renunciation in 1921, Prince Danilo resurfaced in 1927 when he sued

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

for libel and collected $4,000 in a Paris court for the false depiction of him in the first Hollywood version of the film ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt ...

''.Golden, Eve, ''John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars'' (The University Press of Kentucky, 2013), Chapter 6, pp.10-11. In the film, "Prince Danilo of Montenegro" seduces a commoner and then rejects her because it could impoverish the royal treasury. He then regrets his actions and tries to win her back, but fails to convince her of his true love. The film bears no relation to reality. The film was

remade Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is in ...

after the lawsuit. In addition to demoting the prince to a captain, the date of the action was changed from 1905 to 1885, when the real prince was a young boy. Captain Danilo is sent by the King of an unnamed Balkan country to romance that country’s richest widow. She is in Paris, and the Captain’s mission is to make sure she (and her wealth) do not get snapped up by some foreigner. He finds the trip, and work, congenial, and has a generally pleasant outlook on life. This version bought no lawsuit.

Personal life

Prince Danilo was married to Duchess Jutta of Mecklenburg (1880–1946), Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and by birth member of the

House of Mecklenburg The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Slavic origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), ...

. She was eldest the daughter of

Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , spouse = , issue = Marie, Princess Julius Ernst of Lippe Jutta, Crown Princess of Montenegro Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-StrelitzDuke Karl Borwin , father = Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklen ...

and his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Anhalt, granddaughter of British Princess Augusta of Cambridge. The marriage was childless. After his renunciation in 1921, Danilo spent most of his life living in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

. He died in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(which had recently been annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

) in 1939 without children. Danilo is famous as a one-time

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, composing the music for the Serb patriotic song of his father King Nikola ''

Onamo, 'namo! "Onamo, 'namo!" (Serbian Cyrillic: Онамо, 'намо!; en, There, o'er there!) also known as the ''Serb Marseillaise'' (Српска марсељеза / Srpska marseljeza) was a popular anthem in Montenegro in the late 19th to early 20th cent ...

'', which he published in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Gallery

Crown Prince Danilo of Montenegro.jpg, Portrait of young Crown Prince Danilo Representatives of Montenegro at the coronation of Nicholas II.png, Prince Danilo in 1896, with his father

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

and brother Mirko Blue_palace.jpg, Prince Danilo's Blue Palace, today the Presidential palace of Montenegro Duchess Jutta and Prince Danilo leading their wedding procession.jpg, Danilo and Duchess Jutta leading their wedding procession in Cetinje, 1899 File:King_Nicola%27s_Palace_2011.jpg,

Bar Royal Palace Bar Royal Palace is a (former) royal summer residence in Bar, Montenegro. The palace was constructed by king Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyr, Никола I Петровић-Његош; – 1 March 1921) was the ...

, which Danilo used as summer residence GrabDanilo.jpg, Prince Danilo's grave at the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

References

External links

Family of King Nikola Petrovic Njegos

''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

''. October 22, 1934. {{DEFAULTSORT:Danilo Of Montenegro People from Cetinje 1871 births 1939 deaths Petrović-Njegoš dynasty Princes of Montenegro Pretenders to the Montenegrin throne Eastern Orthodox Christians from Montenegro Montenegrin soldiers Montenegrin military personnel of the Balkan Wars Montenegrin military personnel of World War I 19th-century Montenegrin people 20th-century Montenegrin people Montenegrin nobility Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of kings