Their Royal Highnesses Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza and Nicholas Petrevic-Njegosh, Crown Prince of Montenegro dispatched an invitation to Count Marcov for a solemn liturgy ceremony in memory of the late members of the Royal House of Braganza. The ceremony took place at the Church of St. Anthony of the Portuguese, located at via dei Portoghesi in Roma and counted with a selected number of assistants.
After the ceremony, H.R.H. the Duke of Braganza exchanged decorations with H.R.H. the Crown Prince of Montenegro. Later, selected personalities, including some Ambassadors and Count Marcov were presented with the Royal Order of King Danilo I of Montenegro.
The Order of Danilo I was established in 1853 as a Merit Order for war merits but later Sovereign Prince Nicholas I and also Crown Prince Nicholas II revised the statutes so that order expanded to include civilian merit and also five classes were instituted: grand cross, knight commander, knight, lieutenant and member.
Following the collapse of the Montenegrin monarchy and Montenegro’s absorption into the Kingdom of Serbia, the order ceased as a State Order and it was transformed in a Dynastic Order. The order is recognised as a non-governmental organization in Montenegro and the President Mr. Filip Vujanovic was decorated with the grand cross on June 2005.
The order has been given to sovereigns, heads of state, heads of government, His Most Eminent Highness the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (SMOM), ambassadors and other personalities. Montenegro, a key Balkan country has recently passed a referendum to become a fully independent nation. It is said that the Order will come to be a State decoration soon.