As the world mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II we have chosen to reflect upon the life of Her Majesty's lesser known royal cousin, King Peter II of the Karadordevic dynasty.
As we discussed in our last newsletter, addiction does not discriminate. Addicts come from all walks of life. Even someone born into royalty can turn into an addict, as demonstrated by the tumultuous life of King Peter II, or Peter K.
Peter K. though born into privilege and wealth lived a traumatic and difficult life. At age 11 Peter K. inherited the throne upon the assassination of his father, cutting his childhood short. By age 17 Peter K. led a coup to overthrow the pro-Axis regency of his cousin, only to be ousted from power altogether a few weeks later upon the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia, never to return to his homeland again.
During his exile in London, Peter K. remained optimistic of his future. He fell in love with and married a beautiful Greek Princess named Alexandra and continued to lead the Yugoslav Government-In-Exile with the support of the Allied Powers. However, his hope began to diminish as it became clear that not only was he going to be unable to return to his homeland and regain the throne, but that the Allies were beginning to withdraw their support of the Yugoslavian royal government. The Allies began funding and arming the Communist partisans who would soon gain control of Yugoslavia and abolish the monarchy for good, thus destroying any thread of hope Peter K. had left. Without a crown and a country Peter K. was left with no purpose paving the way for his future depression and addiction.
With nowhere to go Peter K. chose to immigrate to Chicago where a large Yugoslav community existed. There he believed that he would be able to sustain his legitimacy as a leader in the eyes of his former subjects. However, his problems only continued to worsen. Bosnians, Serbs and Croats were split over their support of their former king. Peter K. also faced financial issues and struggled to find employment. He grew estranged from his wife, Queen Alexandra, who in her depression tried committing suicide via an overdose of sleeping pills and later attempted to slit her wrists. As Peter K.'s problems worsened so too did his addiction. Peter K. dealt with his depression and misfortunes in a way that is familiar to many of us, he picked up drinking which soon developed into severe alcoholism.
Peter K. never seemed to find his purpose during his post-royal life. He jumped from job to job until he was finally able to secure employment in the savings and loans business in 1967. He was an ex-king now working a modest desk job. However, by this time his alcoholism had already left his body and soul destroyed. He died three years later in 1970 at the age of 47 following a failed liver transplant. The former King died from liver cirrhosis in exile from his homeland where he was barely remembered and could not even return to in death.
Like many of us, Peter K. turned to drinking once he had lost all hope and purpose in his life. He felt as if he had no way to cope with his pain. Peter K. never recovered his home, his health or his honor. He never entered recovery and died in obscurity away from his beloved homeland. Unlike us, Peter K. never found the way out of his addiction and despair via a fellowship or AA home group which could have provided him with the four vital dimensions of recovery; health, home, purpose and community which we discussed in the previous article.
Peter K.'s life and addiction can be understood by the four dimensions of recovery, or more accurately, by the absence of them in his life. As a result of his alcoholism Peter K. developed cirrhosis of the liver resulting in the loss of his health and eventually his life. As a result of being forced out of his homeland by the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia and then being prevented from returning as a result of the Communist takeover, Peter K. lost his home. As a result of his exile and the abolishment of the monarchy in Yugoslavia ,Peter K. lost his crown and his purpose. Finally, as a result of how World War II progressed, Peter K. lost his community as well, since many of his Yugoslav compatriots began losing faith in the monarchy and chose to support the victorious Communist partisans who retook control of Yugoslavia following the Allied victory in World War II. Had Peter K. practiced the 12 Steps he could have found a purpose in his life following his loss of a crown and country and found a power greater than himself which could have restored him to sanity and given him purpose in his post-royal life.
