After the death of his elder brother, Mihailo came to the throne as a minor, having been born in late 1823, and proclaimed prince on 25 June 1839.

Few thrones appeared more secure, and his rule might have endured throughout his life but for his want of energy and inattention to political developments.

During his first reign, on 19 November 1841 he has founded Society of Serbian Letters, but his inexperience meant he did not cope well with some other important challenges Serbia faced.

On 14 September 1842, his reign was ended by a rebellion led by Toma Vučić-Perišić,[8] which enabled the Karađorđević dynasty to assume power and stay on the throne for another sixteen years.

Furthermore, Karl Joseph thought that Maria Josefa was a too good catch for a deposed Prince, member of the House of Obrenovic, an upstart vassal dynasty whose wealth came from trading.

After being rejected and insulted, Mihailo, broke all social contacts with this line of the Liechtenstein family, who were also living in Vienna.

[14] Mihailo was accepted back as Prince of Serbia after 18 years in exile, in September 1860, after the death of his father who had regained the throne in 1858.

After one such riot in the wake of the Čukur Fountain incident in June, 1862, which threatened the Turkish Belgrade Fortress, the Turks responded by bombarding the city.

[16] On September 4, 1862, the conference reached an agreement in which it was decreed that all Muslim inhabitants should be withdrawn from Serbia with the exceptions of existing garrisons in Belgrade, Fetislam, Šabac, and Smederevo.

[21] Mihailo wished to divorce his wife, Julia, in order to marry his young mistress, Katarina Konstantinović,[22] the daughter of his first cousin, Princess Anka Obrenović.

His plans for a divorce and subsequent remarriage to Katarina met with much protest from politicians, clergy and the general public.

His astute and gifted Prime Minister Ilija Garašanin was dismissed from his post in 1867 for daring to voice his opposition to the divorce.

[24] On 10 June 1868 Mihailo was travelling with Katarina and Princess Anka in a carriage through the park of Košutnjak near his country residence on the outskirts of Belgrade.

[citation needed] The National Assembly declared the House of Karađorđević perpetually excluded from ruling and proclaimed Prince Michael's fourteen year old cousin Milan as the legitimate heir to the Serbian throne.