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THE ROYAL COUPLE PRINCE ALEXANDER AND PRINCESS KATHERINE KARADJORDJEVIC CELEBRATING SIX YEARS AT THE ROYAL PALACE

 At the highest point of the Dedinje hill, far away from the eyes of the curious public, at the beginning of the 20th century King Alexander I the Unifier had, just before his wedding in 1922 with Romanian Princess Maria, bought an estate of 135 hectares. For the next 5 years, he built a compound with a lot of love and care, in which he wanted to live his peaceful life with his wife and sons. Big historical events have crushed his plans – he was assassinated in Marseille in 1934. His heir, Peter II, had to leave the country at the beginning of WW 2 and had spent his entire life in exile. The luxury and comfort that the builder of this impressive mansion had intended for himself had to wait for the third generation: on 17 July 2001 Crown Prince Alexander II Karadjordjevic, the grandson of King the Unifier and his family – wife Katherine and sons Peter, Philip and Aleksandar moved into the Palace. Today’s host was born in exile in 1945 in the Claridges hotel in London, where his parents had lived after their wedding.

- My father went away from the Palace in 1941 and since that moment, his longing for home did not leave him. He thought he would return home some day, but that did not happen. I spent most of my life where my parents King Peter II and Queen Alexandra of Greece and Denmark had been living. We lived in many European countries and in America. It was exciting to see all those countries, but I was also very sad because I did not have my home - says the Crown Prince.

On his 56th birthday, on 17 July 2001, the dream he had been dreaming since he was a child had come true. Knowing from personal experience that nothing in life comes on a silver platter, Alexander gave his best to fulfil the dream he and his father had been dreaming in exile. Holding firmly the hand of his wife Katherine, following a series of unsuccessful attempts to return to his roots, he proudly stepped into the Royal Palace which was built by his grandfather.

- I was very impressed with what I saw. My wife and I took long walks in the Palace, looking at the artworks, the basement. I was curious about everything: where my father was sitting, what he was thinking about, what he was doing.

Princess Katherine adds to the story:

- On the first night when we came there were a lot of emotions and tears. Only when we were ready to go to sleep did we realise that we had not eaten anything the whole day. We had completely forgotten about hunger. We wanted to have something before going to sleep, but we could not find the kitchen. Then my husband remembered that his father had told him that his grandfather did not enjoy the smell of food, and when he built the Palace, he insisted that the kitchen be built as far away as possible. At that moment we were too tired to look for it.

However, that night when they arrived, the Princess was much more impressed by another scene that she had the opportunity to witness only once in her life. It was then that she felt she was truly at home. She cannot hold back her tears as she remembers:

- When we slept at the Palace for the first time, I saw my husband praying to God and speaking to his father. I have never seen him do that before. He was calm and wanted to share that moment with his father. He called him, believing that he could hear him. He said: Father, I hope you are proud of me, I have come to serve my people.

The biggest impression on Alexander II was left by the basement rooms, very lively decorated and painted. His grandfather was under a strong influence of Russian art and culture, which he fell in love with when he served the army as a cadet at the Russian Imperial Military Academy. That is why he allowed the Russian immigrants who painted this secret area of the Royal Palace to express themselves freely. The Crown Prince had seen many world residences and Palaces, but he says that there is no basement in the world like this one.

FRENCH PARKS FOR MORNING COURTSHIP

The visitors find the Room of Whispers to be most interesting. It got its name after its function, because this is where confidential discussions were held. King Alexander I was completely aware of the branched network of espionage, so he decided to secure a completely private corner for himself, and when it comes to acoustics, the Russian architects were true masters: in the middle of the room is a carefully positioned fountain, the specific shape of the arch pushed the sound towards it, and upon being activated, the fountain produced an impenetrable sound barrier. The builders carefully calculated the intensity of the cascade and the gurgle of the water, so whenever the King had an important guest, he would turn on the fountain.

Friends from all over the world who come to the Karadjordjevic home bring as gifts many sweet things for the house. Most often, it’s the silver or wooden jewellery boxes. From their friends from Sweden they got the olive-green statue which is in the King’s Office, and from their friends from France they got flower vases and icons. During his previous stay in Belgrade, in the beginning of June, the famous maestro Zubin Mehta was with his wife at the Palace and presented the Royal Couple with an unusual green jewellery box from Florence.

Famous landscape architect Eduard André, who was the director of the parks at Versailles, implemented around the Palace the concept of French parks, where plants were planted in regular geometric formations, while the rest of the property was designed in the stile of English parks, where plants and trees grow freely. The Compound at Dedinje is a small botanical garden with rare species. The wife of Alexander I The Unifier, Maria, loved roses and had her own rose garden, and they are also the favourite flowers of Princess Katherine. An array of cascading terraces surrounds the Palaces and each one of them has its purpose; some of them even used to be concert pavilions.

“We have changed a lot of things ever since we came to the Royal Palace. We put together the sets of dislocated pieces of furniture, it took some time to make them grouped properly. We had new curtains done, restored the furniture, built in the air-conditioners and installed a modern computer system. Now this is truly a home. Placing glasses on tables without coasters is not allowed”

Rooster’s Terrace got its name after a sculpture by Zdenko Kalina, and the other, dominated by the sculptures of Ivan Mestrovic, favourite sculptor of King Alexander I, was named the Obilic Terrace or the Sphinx Terrace. Each one has a specific atmosphere.

The Royal Couple has its own little rituals that remind them of a warm family atmosphere. The Princess loves the morning, when she can prepare breakfast for her beloved husband and serve him, without the help of the servants. Then they have the impression that they are completely alone in the world.

- Before breakfast we like to take a walk in the park, because after that we do not have the time to truly enjoy ourselves together. Most of the times we forget to have lunch, and in the evening we are often too tired to have dinner. But, regardless of everything, we are glad to be home - says Princess Katherine.

For the Prince, the most romantic place in the Palace is the veranda overlooking the park, surrounded by glass: an ideal place for a love-filled breakfast or a romantic candle-light dinner for two. The most romantic part of this magnificent compound for the Princess is the garden, filled with aromatic flowers. Sometimes they have dinner here. They love having guests.

- We gladly open up the Compound, we have receptions and various social activities. The receptions often have a charity character. We have a lot of young people come here, and every year, traditionally, we host 500 best high school pupils of Serbia – says the Prince.

Among the official dignitaries are the most well known names of the world aristocracy: the King and Queen of Sweden, the Prince of Luxembourg, numerous heads of state, the President of Iceland. Among all those guests who parade through the Palace almost on a daily basis, there are some eccentrics, but Alexander II respects everyone’s sense of humour.

- The most eccentric guest was a politician who liked magic tricks – recalls the Crown Prince.

In 2001, 3 weeks before the Karadjordjevics had moved into the Palace, the current President of Russia Vladimir Putin was in Serbia.

- Putin was accommodated at the Palace as were many world dignitaries who came to visit Belgrade. As we found out, he slept in our present bed. We laughed and asked him what he did when he wanted to take a shower, since at that time there were often shortages of hot water. Putin had never complained about that. He is a gentleman.

Since many visitors are at the Palace from morning till dark, it is not appropriate for the Karadjordjevics to walk in tracksuits or inadequately dressed. Princess Katherine says:

- That would be totally cool, as our sons would say. When our children are here, we dress in a more sporty way. They like us to look trendy.

Hereditary Prince Peter (27) and his brothers, twins, Princes Philip and Alexander (25) come to visit their parents twice a year. They have rooms on the first floor. Between those rooms is a central room in which there are computers and a big plasma screen. The Princes like to come to Belgrade and often bring their friends from all over the world. When it comes to going out, they like to go to the floating cafés and night clubs. In the winter, the family goes to the Kopaonik Mt. to snowboard while their parents ski.

- When we moved in, the boys joined us 2 weeks later. We let them choose their rooms. Peter chose the smallest ones because it was the most practical. Alexander opted for the room next to Peter’s, very elegant with the nicest furniture, while Philip’s looks like a suite and exits to the terrace. All the 3 rooms are different, as are the characters of their tenants. Peter’s relation is England-Spain, and owns a company that does graphic design. Alexander lives in San Francisco and will soon obtain a masters degree in artistic design, while Philip is in London and works at a bank, and does finances. The nicest thing of all is to watch them proudly show off their home to their friends. They love their country even though they have not lived in it – says the Princess.

Their Royal Highnesses Alexander II and Katherine are proud of the fact that the Princes are earning for a living and have many interests. They hope they will soon get 3 daughters-in-law, Princesses, and more than everything they want them to be Serbian.

Text: Jelena Djokic

Photos: Jelena Mandic