Serbia: HRH Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic – At the service of the country

Two days ago the Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic published a rather interesting article on the official website of the Royal Family of Serbia, titled HRH Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic – At the service of the country, which among others tell how much the Crown Prince couple has invested in the Royal Compound over the years.

In the last paragraph we can read that "[...] it makes no sense to respond to ugly tabloid headlines in our newspapers about the financial difficulties in the maintenance of the Royal Compound, but only to list the major activities of TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine, who with their devotion and love for the people Serbia and are entirely at the service of our country."

Still, it would have been interesting to learn what the tabloids actually wrote. And I hope that the Serbian state one day learns the historical value the Royal Compound represents and decides to increase its financial support.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in Serbia

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway made an official visit to Serbia today (6 November 2014), where he among others opened a new functionality for Telenor's mobile bank and meet participants of the Telenor Youth Forum as well as Norwegian language students at the Institute of Scandinavian Languages at the University of Belgrade.

According to the Norwegian Royal Court's website, Crown Prince Haakon later met up with the First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dačić, followed by an official luncheon.

The Crown Prince also attended the opening of Human Rights House Belgrade, which will be home to various Serbian human rights organisations, before he moved on to the Zemun district where he attended the re-opening of the Roman Catholic chapel of St. Rocco, which during the last few years has undergone extensive renovation works. He also visited the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel nearby.

In Zemun Crown Prince Haakon had the pleasure of meeting his distant royal relative, Crown Prince Alexander, head of the former royal family of Yugoslavia (Royal House of Karadjordjevic), and his wife Crown Princess Katherine. The Norwegian Royal Court doesn't mention this encounter, but fortunately Crown Prince Alexander's office has released the following information:

Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Hakon Magnusson [sic!] of Norway, Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine visited Zemun today to attend a ceremony at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Rocco, following that they visited the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel. This ceremony was also attended by State Secretary Dilek Ayhan of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, HE Mr Nils Ragnar Kamswag, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway, and great number of members of the diplomatic corps and religious representatives.

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Rocco was built in 1836, on the foundations of an older chapel, and the architect was Joseph Felber, who also built the Zemun Church of Holy Trinity. The church suffered in 1990’s, but recently it was renovated thanks to the Norwegian Government and its former glory has again been fully restored.

Crown Prince Alexander expressed his delight that HRH Crown Prince Haakon is in Serbia and that they met on such wonderful occasion. “Crown Prince Haakon of Norway is the first member of the Norwegian Royal Family to visit Serbia for 40 years. I hope meetings like this will happen more often and that each future meeting will further deepen the friendship between our two countries to the benefit of both our nations.”

Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine also visited the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel in Zemun and talked to the priests who told Their Royal Highnesses about its long history.

Crown Prince Alexander's office has also published a few photos from the visit. Later in the evening the Norwegian Crown Prince attended an official dinner hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador in Belgrade, Nils Ragnar Kamsvåg. According to the Norwegian Royal Court, the "guest list reflects the extensive cooperation between Norway and Serbia in various spheres of society". Not sure if the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Serbia were invited, but I really hope so.

The Crown Prince of Norway's given names are Haakon Magnus, but only the first name Haakon is in daily use, which was confirmed after the extraordinary council of state on 23 July 1973, three days after his birth.

Guests at the British Royal Wedding 2011, one confirmation

Ever since the engagement between Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton was announced in November last year, royalty watchers and the media have been busy guessing about the guest lists to the wedding and reception.

Today we got the first official confirmation, as the Public Relations Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia (Yugoslavia) announced in a press release that Crown Prince Alexander and his wife Crown Princess Katherine have received an invitation from HM Queen Elizabeth to the wedding on 29 April 2011. Their Royal Highnesses say they are delighted to attend the marriage and are very happy for the young couple. Queen Elizabeth is, by the way, Crown Prince Alexander's godmother.

I am sure we will get far more details about the guest lists when we get closer to the wedding. Many courts will mention the royals' attendance in their lists of official engagements. There are some courts, however, which believe that attending a royal wedding is not an official engagement, so for some of the royals we just have to wait until they appear at Westminster Abbey. I am confident, though, that Buckingham Palace (or Clarence House) will publish the lists in due time.

Many have suggested that because it is not the heir to the British throne that is getting married, "only" the heir to the heir, the number of royal guests will be lower than we witnessed in 1981 when the Prince of Wales got married to Lady Diana Spencer. I think we can expect a great royal turn-up, though, and that most, if not all, of the European royal and princely families will be represented.

Concerning the speculations that have been going on, The Daily Mail claims to know that Sarah, Duchess of York, former wife of the Duke of York (Prince Andrew), is to receive an invitation. If the article is correct, I would not be that surprised, despite all the headlines the former duchess created last year (and in earlier years). But The Daily Mail has also claimed that President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have been "left off the guest list" as it is not a state occasion. I cannot understand why anyone would believe that they would be considered for an inviation in the first place. Then again we all know that The Daily Mail and other British tabloids should be read with a critical eye.

I will surely return with more comments on the guest lists as we get closer to the wedding.

Celebrations in Serbia

Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on 21 September 2010. They were married in London on 21 September 1985.

In connection with the upcoming anniversary the couple has given an interview to the magazine Gloria. The interview, which in English translation is titled "All the secrets of our marriage", was published at the Official Website of the Serbian Monarchy on 13 September 2010. The original interview can be found here.

In advance I would like to wish the happy couple all the best for their big day!