Maria, known in Serbian as Marija Karađorđević, was Queen of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1922 to 1929 and Queen of Yugoslavia from 1929 to 1934 as the wife of King Alexander I. She was the mother of King Peter II. Her citizenship was revoked, and her property was confiscated by the Yugoslav communist regime in 1947, but she was posthumously rehabilitated in 2014.

Alexander I, also known as Alexander the Unifier, was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until his assassination in 1934. His reign of 13 years is the longest of the three monarchs of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.