Prince rejects intervention

Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, 47, the heir to the Serbian throne, said yesterday that, much as he respected Lady Thatcher, he did not agree with her plea for weapons and military aid to be sent to Bosnia. 

Prince Alexander, who was born in London, first set foot in Yugoslavia last October, when he made an emotional visit to Belgrade. A former business consultant, he has turned his premises in Park Lane into a centre for restoring peace to his country. 

The Crown Prince, who until recently returned from a further three-week visit to his homeland, said: "I do not think Lady Thatcher was right. You cannot send young men and women into what is a quagmire. We need her help in promoting the democratic process in a place where it is not known." 

"People want democracy. They are losing their loved and living in appalling conditions. 

Until there is a democratic process, the fighting will continue. It is still a police state, where young men are ordered to fight and if they won't, their families are intimidated. The powers that be do not care how many people die." 

While the Crown Prince acts as "voice for peace", his Greek-born wife, Crown Princess Katherine, 46, has committed herself to helping children, the hospitals and more than two million refugees displaced from their homes by the fighting. She has formed her own charity, SOS Yugoslavia, which has been sending convoys of lorries carrying food and medical equipment to the areas that are still accessible. 

Her own family doctor was so moved by her reports of what she had seen on her last visit in February, that he too, decided to spend nine days in a hospital in Sarajevo. 

Princess Katherine is currently working to try to co-ordinate humanitarian aid from Britain. 

The imposition of sanctions means any charity, like hers, has to apply for a licence to move food or hospital supplies. 

She said: "This is very frustrating, because you have to apply to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and provide an itemised list, and the administrative side takes a long time. I would like to see this speeded up." 

( Crown Princess Katherine's charity, SOS Yugoslavia: Appeal for Life, is at  
36, Park Lane, London W1Y 3LE.)