KATHERINE...ANGEL OF LOVE AND PHILANTHROPY FOR THE SERBIAN PEOPLE

(Translation of HRH Crown Princess Katherine Interview in Greek to the leading American Greek newspaper)

Boston. Well known for its faith and its civilization but also for its great suffering especially during the last years Serbia has its own guardian angel since nine years ago, a guardian angel that offers a lot of love and affection that is needed so much for this country. This angel is Princess Katherine of whom everything is Greek, name, language, blood, origin and soul. She was born and raised in Greece. Her name was Katherine Batis, but for 25 years she is married to Prince Alexander of Serbia, and is known as Princess Katherine Karadjordjevic. Her husband Prince Alexander is the son of King Peter of Yugoslavia, grandson of King Alexander of Yugoslavia, as well as grandson of King Alexander of Greece and his grandmother was Aspasia Manos. Prince Alexander grasps the Greek language since his Greek wife speaks fluently and with ease the Greek language.

They met in the United States and specifically in Washington, the fell in love, they got married and this year they will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, having as a common goal to keep on offering in anyway and by any means assistance to the suffering Serbian people. Of course today there is no Monarchy in Serbia, nevertheless, the Royal couple is enjoying broad acceptance and appreciation exactly because they offer love, help and compassion.

In an interview to the “Ethnikos Kirikas” Princess Katherine said, “In June we will be here 9 years” and she explained, “we didn’t come here because he is the son of King Peter, but because my husband helped in restoring democracy to the nation”. More specifically she said “he gathered the opposition in a conference in Budapest, he also organized another one in Athens which was greatly supported by the opposition, they were able to unite, which was not easy at all, since as you might very well be aware in Balkans it is not easy to unite on their own and when the opposition became the government after a year, my husband decide to come here on this birthday 17th July 2001” and she added “we came here to work, to assist”.

The Serbian people love very much Princess Katherine’s Greek roots because they understood from the beginning that she was on their side. She escorted trucks with humanitarian aid, medicine, clothes, and towels, to Bosnia during war in the winter. “Even if we never go to live in our nation, I want to be able to look at the people in their eyes and to see that we were at their side when they needed us the most” emphasized Princess Katherine.

The Serbian people are not only simply love Princess Katherine but they adore her literally. “The Serbian people are closely connected with the Greek people and they say to me Greeks are our brothers, they stood by us in the difficult times” she said. And she added “They feel so proud that I am Greek and wherever I go they have Greek flags, they play Greek songs and they say some words in Greek since many Serbians go on vacation to Greece especially to Chalkidiki”. She underlined that “Serbians believe that during the war nobody stood by them as the Greeks did”. And she added “I mean that Greeks saved a lot of lives during war”.

Princess Katherine founded a humanitarian office in Athens, through which great assistance has been directed to Serbia. She continues “many trucks came from Greece heavily loaded with almost everything, it was very sentimental since it was our Christmas (7th of January) because on 4th of January we had 1200 orphans here in the Palace, who are coming with buses from all around the country and all the toys that we distribute at Christmas and Easter come in trucks from Greece as gifts”.

Princess Katherine has been officially assigned by Serbia as the official coordinator for Health and Social Solidarity Sector. Through her care and through her humanitarian network all the hospitals in Serbia have new medical equipment and new ambulances and new surgical units were also created.

She mentioned, “we use to have the highest percentage of infant mortality rate in the whole of Europe, because for 10 years women did not want to have children and when they started to, premature birth was the standard and we didn’t have enough incubators”. She also revealed that “today in Serbia we have the highest rate of breast cancer mortality among women in Europe” and she explained that “eight hundred women are dying in only one town, and this is unacceptable”. She also said “the Stavros Niarchos Foundation helped us to buy a mobile mammography unit which is going to all villages and examines 2,500 women every month”.

To the question whether or not this increase of cancer is caused by the chemicals used during the war she answered, “I cannot give an answer to that and I shouldn’t answer because this moment I need assistance to save the mothers who are dying one after the other, it is a mess here”. Adding to that she “I am very grateful to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, they came 2 times during 2009 and we held a conference. Also, we had great support from the Komen Foundation, as well as from Estee Lauder”.

When they came back 9 yrs ago to Serbia, along with her husband Alexander from London where they lived, “…unemployment was 40%. One third of the hospital equipment was not operational at all, one third was more than thirty years old and we had to work with the remaining one third. We had to find equipment, medicine, bring doctors here to show new methods to our doctors, and to send doctors to the Memorial Hospital for training in radiology”.

Princess Katherine comes from a charitable family. Her family offered much to the “Soldiers shirt”, while her father was honoured last year by the Greek state for his humanitarian work. “I grew up listening to my parents saying that you find happiness in life when you give and I believe today that offering ourselves is like oxygen”, she emphasized and continued that “I have come to believe that there is no greater happiness in life than to give from yourself”.

She speaks with awe and affection for her husband. She said “last June we were invited to the residence of Vice President Joseph Biden for dinner, the Vice President said that Prince Alexander brought democracy to his country”.

The following day, the American Vice President, the Royal Couple and the founder of Komen Foundation Ambassador Mrs Nancy Brinker, addressed over 50,000 people to the Mall between the White House and the Capitol.

When Alexander appeared on the balcony with the new Serbian Patriarch Irinej, “the people were cheering with great sentiment”, she said.

Speaking about the Serbian people she underlined that “they are a very proud, educated and industrious people and we admire them. Here we have all the religions and although they were at war, now everybody lives in harmony”. She added, “we are Orthodox but we respect everybody”.

The Royal couple lives in the Palaces that were built by Alexander’s grandfather, which are in the centre of Belgrade, with beautiful gardens and which are preserved although 50 yrs have passed since the abolition of Monarchy from the country.

To the question whether or not there is a possibility that Prince Alexander become King she said, “in most of people’s minds here he already is” and she clarified that “they are aware that we came to offer not to take”.

In one of her visits to one of the orphanages a little kid raised his pillow and show her a bar of chocolate that the Princess gave to him 3 yrs ago and he told her that “when you came to see me it was the greatest day of my life and I am keeping the chocolate bar so I remember that day…”.

Three of her five children, Philip, Peter and Alexander, celebrating their birthday are organizing Friday February 5th at Cipriani restaurant, which is at 110 East 42nd Street in Manhattan New York, a dinner under the title “Princess Ball” in honour of their mother, aiming to fund raise half of which will be directed for the premature born infants that are hospitalized to the Intensive Care Units and the rest for the breast cancer treatment for women patients.

The Royal couple will be present at the Ball, for those interested in information and tickets they can visit the relevant web page www.princesball.com