Princess Helen of Serbia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Princess Helen |
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| Princess Elena Petrovna of Russia | |||||
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| Born | Princess Jelena Karađorđević 4 November 1884 Cetinje Royal Palace, Cetinje, Montenegro |
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| Died | 16 October 1962 (aged 77) Nice, France |
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| Burial | Cimetière orthodoxe de Caucade, Nice, France | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich Princess Catherine Ivanovna |
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| House | Karađorđević | ||||
| Father | Peter I of Serbia | ||||
| Mother | Princess Zorka of Montenegro | ||||
Princess Helen of Serbia (born November 4, 1884 – died October 16, 1962) was a Serbian princess. She was the daughter of King Peter I of Serbia and Princess Zorka of Montenegro. Helen was the older sister of George, Crown Prince of Serbia and King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. She was also a niece to Queen Elena of Italy.
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Early Life and Education
Helen was born in Cetinje, Montenegro. Her mother passed away when Helen was very young. She was mostly raised by her aunts, Princess Anastasia and Princess Milica.
Helen went to school in Russia at the Smolny Institute. This was a special school in Saint Petersburg for girls from important families. A governess named Margaretta Eagar, who worked for the Tsar's daughters, described Helen as "a very sweet-faced though plain girl, with beautiful dark eyes, very quiet and amiable in manner." Helen often visited her aunts and cousins. Young Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia was very fond of her.
Marriage and Family Life
Helen's aunt, Queen Elena of Italy, invited her for a visit. There, Helen met Prince John Konstantinovich of Russia. He quickly asked her to marry him. This was a true love story. It surprised their families because John was a quiet person. He had even thought about becoming a Russian Orthodox monk.
They got married on September 3, 1911. The wedding took place at the Saints Peter and Paul Chapel in the Peterhof Palace in Saint Petersburg. After her marriage, Helen kept her special title, Royal Highness. This meant she could meet with diplomats on her own. Her husband, John, had a slightly lower title, His Highness.
After getting married, Helen began studying medicine at the Saint Petersburg Imperial University. However, she had to stop her studies when she had her first child. Helen and John had two children:
- Prince Vsevelod Ivanovich of Russia (born 1914 – died 1973)
- Princess Catherine Ivanovna of Russia (born 1915 – died 2007)
Their daughter Princess Catherine later had children and grandchildren. These are the only great-grandchildren of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia.
Life During the Russian Revolution
When the Russian Revolution of 1917 began, Helen's husband, Prince John, was arrested. Helen bravely chose to follow him into exile. She tried very hard to get him released from prison. John was first held in Yekaterinburg, Siberia. Later, he was moved to Alapaevsk.
In July 1918, Prince John and several other members of the royal family were killed by the Bolsheviks. They were taken into a forest and pushed into an abandoned mine shaft. Grenades were then thrown into the shaft.
Imprisonment and Release
Before he was killed, John convinced Helen to leave Alapaevsk. He wanted her to go back to their two young children. She had left them with John's mother, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna of Russia.
In June 1918, Helen visited the Ipatiev House. She wanted to see the Tsar and secretly hoped to pass letters to the royal family. The guards would not let her in. She was later arrested by the secret police and imprisoned in Perm.
While in prison, the Bolsheviks brought a girl to Helen's cell. The girl claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the Tsar's daughter. Helen said she did not recognize the girl. Two weeks later, Helen was put on a train back to Petrograd.
Swedish diplomats helped Helen's mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna, leave Russia. She left with Helen's children, Vsevelod and Catherine, in October 1918. They sailed on a Swedish ship. Helen remained imprisoned in Perm until Norwegian diplomats found her. She was then moved to the Kremlin Palace as a prisoner. Finally, she was allowed to leave Russia and join her children in Sweden. Helen later settled in Nice, France. She never married again.
