After ex-king Milan had returned to Serbia in January 1894 and took the position as deputy of his son and commander-in-chief of the army, King Alexander ordered the complete rehabilitation of his parents and the restoration of their royal prerogatives in April 1894 - despite the protests of the radical opposition. Natalie, who lived mainly in France, returned to Belgrade not before May 1895 but kept her habit of frequent foreign travels. When King Alexander affianced himself with
Draga Mašin, a
court lady of Queen Natalie, in 1900, his parents rejected the future queen as an improper and impossible choice. His parents had previously arranged a marriage to a suitable German Princess
Alexandra Karoline of Schaumburg-Lippe, sister of the
Queen of Württemberg, which never took place. After that, ex-king Milan resigned as army commander and left Serbia for the rest of his life; he died in Vienna a year later, in 1901. Even the relationship between Natalie and Alexander was broken up. Because the Queen Mother was a strong opponent of her son's marriage to Draga, Natalie was banished from Serbia by her son. King Alexander and his wife Draga were killed in 1903 during a
military coup. This left Natalie the sole member of the Obrenović dynasty. She donated the inheritance to the
University of Belgrade and various churches and monasteries around
Serbia. The same year, Queen Natalie became a member of the
Roman Catholic Church and a nun, converting from Serbian Orthodoxy. Queen Natalie spent the remaining years of her life in exile in France under the name
Comtesse de Roudnik (Countess of Rudnik), which stood in her
diplomatic passport, opting to officially hide her true identity. The last winter before she died in 1941, she spent with her friend, Jehanne Henriette Emilie Vivaux, née Piarron de Mondesir, niece of
General Jean Frédéric Lucien Piarron de Mondésir in
Lardy, Essonne, a small town near Paris, where she was buried at the local cemetery. There is still a dispute where exactly she died, some sources say it was in
Saint-Denis,
France, while other sources indicate Paris. Her memoirs were kept in the
Vatican, but were published in Belgrade in 1999. == Gallery ==