The pictures of civil war and human suffering in Yugoslavia may have disappeared from the news, but they remain fresh in the minds of its exiled monarchs. 

Crown Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia shared a book of glossy photographs with guests at a gala fund raiser Thursday night. 

Opposite their photographs with foreign dignitaries and addressing crowded squares were also scenes of them sitting at the bedside of sick children and standing beside trucks that had been converted into roving clinics. 

It was their words, however-about a health-care system in collapse, unemployment hovering around 60 percent and food, oil and medicine shortages-that said what photographs could not about the harshness of people's daily lives in their former homeland. 

"When I go into the hospitals in my country, it hurts. Children are dying. 

It's very sad when you see operations taking place without anesthesia...I've seen so much suffering that it makes me wonder what this work is all about," Crown Princess Katherine told about 125 people who paid $250 each to attend a party at the Harrison Conference Center in Glen Cove. The event was organized to raise awareness and money for the princess' London-based charity, Lifeline, which provides emergency aid to Yugoslavia. 

Living in exile in London since the end of World War II, the crown prince is a member of the Serb royal family that ruled Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1941. 

In 1993, Crown Princess Katherine started Lifeline to help victims of the war that divided the country. 

Lifeline's motto is, "We take aid, not sides, because suffering knows no boundaries," and it sends emergency relief to Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and any other place in the former Yugoslavia in need. Since it began, Lifeline reportedly has sent convoys of medicines, food and clothes to refugees, orphans and hospitals, provided mobile, minor surgical units and dental clinics and sent children with life-threatening conditions to other countries for treatment. 

The organization's leaders include the daughter of the prince and princess, Alison Garfinkel, 34 who has lived in Long Island 15 years and owns a telecommunications and computer company in Glen Cove with her husband, Dean. 

The couple and their children live in Brookville. 

Garfinkel pulled the gala fund raiser together in 16 days with support from friends and community leaders in Glen Cove, compelled by her parents' stories of a recent trip to Yugo- slavia. 

"We have to let people know that people are dying over there because they don't have the basics," she said. "With the elections in the United States, everybody's talking about democracy ...We're fighting for our democracy, and they're fighting for their democracy. Now they have to have hope. They have to know they've made the right choice." A diverse ethnic and religious mix of people attended the Glen Cove gala, where the champagne flowed and guests dined on an elaborate spread that included Peking duck and petit fours. In a show of friendship and unity, Muhamed Sacirbey, Bosnian ambassador to the United Nations, also attended, and Glen Cove Mayor Thomas Suozzi emceed an auction to raise additional donations. 

Garfinkel said the fund raiser was "very successful" and donations were still pouring in Friday. The royal family is hoping that the event in Glen Cove will be the first of many in the United States to assist in the emergency relief efforts. Garfinkel will now be part of a team leading those efforts as the crown prince and princess plan to return soon to their homeland. 

The future of the monarchy remains in question, Crown Prince Alexander said. "It's a slow process. Certainly the days of exile are numbered," he said. 

"It is not the real issue at the moment. It's the needs of the people." The prince and princess said they were grateful for the responsive, thoughtful support they have received from New Yorkers. Likewise, several guests at the fund raiser said they were grateful the royals have taken up the cause of the people in Yugoslavia. 

"As a member of the Serbian community, we're very grateful that the Glen Cove community opened up their hearts to give to the refugee community, which is 1 million in Yugoslavia," added Ljubica Todorovich of New York City, a guest at the fund raiser. "Let's hope things will change." Anyone interested in learning more about Lifeline charity events and the latest news from Yugoslavia can check the royals' Web site on the Internet-www.royalfamily.org -or call Lifeline at 516-656-5133.