Salic law abolished in Serbia

April 18, 1901

Salic law, which bars female succession, has been abolished in Serbia, according to the Marquise de Fontenoy's latest dispatch.   The soon-to-be new constitution "modifies the law of succession in the sense that females are no longer debarred."   At this time, King Alexander is alone among European sovereigns without an heir to the throne.  He is the last of the male line in the Obrenovitch dynasty.  The change in the law has been designed to prevent the dynasty from becoming extinct if King Alexander and Queen Draga have only daughters.

The change has been "hailed with satisfaction" by the Serbian people.  The only protests have come from the Karageorgevitch "pretenders" who believe they would have a chance to succeed to the throne if King Alexander dies without an heir.

There is some apprehension expressed in European capitals about the feasibility of a Queen Regnant in Serbia.  Would she be "capable of coping with the difficulties that are constantly arising in a country so inadequately civilized as Serbia."     But there is no real reason why a woman should not be able to rule Serbia "quite as well as any King.   King Alexander's mother, Queen Natalie "has far more strength and character than her husband, Milan." 

Serbia is a "happy and prosperous place" for the first time in forty years, since King Alexander married Draga Maschin.