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In due course of time Draga became fired with the hope of future social distinction. She had been dragged through the mire of ill-repute and was now determined to attain the coveted recognition of society, not as an adventuress, but as a lady of wealth and rank. To this end she even sought the influence in her behalf of a minister of the Servian court, and through him the unsophisticated Natalie resolved to help her, pensioned her, and finally made Draga one of her ladies-in-waiting at Biarritz.

In 1898 the young King Alexander, upon a visit to his mother at Biarritz, met Draga, his future queen and for whom he felt no little affection from the first.

Natalie, during this visit of her son, laid before him her plans for his marriage to Princess Lilly Mirko of Montenegro, his cousin, an Obrenovitch descendant and one of the most beautiful women in all Europe. But the King, already having been subjected by the subtle charms of Draga (who, by her beauty and manners, had established herself as the most fascinating of Natalie’s attendants), disappointed his mother by taking no thought of her proposal.