Kříž královny Marie

Queen Mary's Cross
Cross of Queen Maria
This cross continues the tradition of decorating the care of wounded and sick soldiers. Here it is certain that it is a tradition that relates to the Mercy Cross of 1912.
After Yugoslavia was crushed by German and Italian forces, King Petar II, his family and other members of the government moved into exile in London. His situation was not a good one, as London had bet on the forces of J.B. Tito, the descendant of the president and general. The King himself lived above the odds and was more concerned with entertainment and distraction than with political events in Yugoslavia. In 1943-44, when the situation in the Balkans was clearly on the side of the partisans, even Gen. Mihajlovic. (At this time at the headquarters of gen. Tito's headquarters was already operating a British military mission).
The King's wife, Queen Mary, founded the Cross itself. Its purpose was to reward loyal officials, diplomats and their wives, as well as the staff of the Yugoslav Red Cross, which was active in London. The Queen (reportedly) awarded several crosses to Red Cross workers and several English ladies.
The cross was established in two degrees:
Gold Cross (gilt silver)
The Silver Cross
The decoration was made by an English master, an employee of Spink in London. The cross is made of high quality silver, it is not marked or hallmarked.
In 1945 all the loyalists turned away from the King, some of them went over to Tito and some of them went into exile.
Queen Mary no longer had the money to pay for the order, so the Spink company sold these crosses freely in the 1960s to raise money for the order. It is true that these crosses were allowed to be bought, but nowadays they are among the rarer decorations from the end of royal Yugoslavia. The Spink company described this situation truthfully in their January 1964 magazine. She called the crosses:
Order of Mercy - Orden der Barmherzigkeit
Description of the cross.
Weight of the cross: 12.80 g.
Sources:
Spink Magazine 1964
Altmann archives
Notes:
If anyone owns a gold cross, please post a picture. I would be grateful for any further information.Pictures own collection, can be published.

Queen Mary's golden cross, minted by the English company Spink, ranks among rare decorations and beautiful decorations. Thanks to my colleague Roman Nohejl we can "enjoy" the Golden Cross of Queen Mary in its full glory, even with the original collection.


Pictures from a private foreign collection were provided by a colleague who does not wish to be named.