Serbian Claimant
With the death of his father in 1884 Prince Alexis became head of the senior branch of the House of Karageorgevitch and a claimant to the Serbian throne. He was not the only Karageorgevitch to claim the throne as Prince Peter the son of Prince Alexander Karageorgvitch also advanced a claim. In 1895 Prince Alexis said "Not only do I intend not to abandon my legitimate rights, but I am ready to make them prevail." A couple of years later his brother Prince Bojidar made a secret visit to Serbia to gather support for the House of Karageorgevitch.
In late 1898 Prince Alexis met Mabelle Swift, niece of American businessman Gustavus Franklin Swift, in Paris. Prince Alexis proposed marriage with Swift agreeing on condition that her parents consented to the match. In June 1899 Prince Alexis set off for America to seek the approval of her father E.C. Swift. After spending time with her family at their villa in Beverly, Chicago they refused to give their consent to the marriage. One of the reasons speculated on was that her family were concerned that their daughter would merely be a morganatic wife in the event Prince Alexis ascended the Serbian throne.
In January 1902 there was reports in Serbia that King Alexander I from the rival House of Obrenovic was prepared to abdicate in favour of Prince Alexis or at the least he would be named Alexander's heir. However nothing came of this and the following year King Alexander was assassinated. With the throne now vacant Prince Alexis was overlooked in favour of the head of the younger branch of the family, Prince Peter Karageorgevitch who was elected King Peter I of Serbia. As a result Prince Alexis announced in an interview that he had abandoned his claim to the throne.
Read more about this topic: Prince Alexis Karageorgevich