A former Serbian Minister of Finance Laza Paču refused to lend money to king Petar I Karadjordjević with the explanation that there wouldn’t be anyone to give it back if the king happened to die.
There is another peculiar case recorded only in Serbia. There was a Serbian king who lived only with the salary he was given for his “job” by the government. His name was king Petar I Karadjordjević and he reigned in the early twentieth century.
That was the time of the formation of the civil society in Serbia and the birth of democracy, but a story remained of a minister of finance who refused to grant a loan to a king.
King Petar I Karadjordjević had urgently needed 200.000 dinars for his daughter’s marriage so he decided to ask a loan from than minister of finance Laza Paču.
The minister refused to borrow him the money, and later to take it out of his salary.
According to the story, he explained his decision with the words:
“It’s out of the question! If, God forbids, the King dies, and he is mortal as we all are, who will repay the debt to the state? – Laza, of course! Or, if politicians force the king to abdicate. Who will pay the debt? Laza, again.”
That is why the Minister advised king Petar I Karadjordjević to go to the bank and ask them for a loan, because the government wasn’t there to fulfill the king’s wishes.
According to the stories of the contemporaries, the King didn’t get angry and he did take a loan in the bank.
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