Christening of Crown Prince Peter of Yugoslavia, 1923

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The Christening of Crown Prince Peter of Yugoslavia in Belgrade on this day in 1923. From L-R; King Alexander of Yugoslavia (father), Queen Elisabeth of Greece, (aunt) Queen Marie of Romania (grandmother), King Ferdinand of Romania (grandfather), the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother/ godmother), and the Duke of York (later King George VI/ godfather). The Day was described in Robert Prentice’s Princess Olga of Yugoslavia: Her Life and Times:

The ceremony was not without incident: When the Duke of York (who was the child’s godfather or ‘Koom’) handed the baby to the Patriarch of Serbia for total immersion (as Orthodox rites required), the priest lost grip of the infant, who promptly fell into the font. Fortunately, the Duke deftly retrieved the distressed baby and returned him to the relieved Patriarch. The christening was followed by a lavish lunch for four-hundred, which to the Princess seemed like ‘the whole of Belgrade’.

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