|
|||
 |
|
|||
|
|
|
Exclusively for YUTEF, Radmila Vukelic talked to HRH Crown Princess Katherine ABOVE POLITICS AND RELIGION, WITH PEOPLE FIRST- WE ARE GOING TO ACHIEVE WONDERFUL SUCCESS! God gave us two hands so that we could use one for ourselves, and the other one to help the others - I believe God gave us two hands so that we could use one for ourselves, and the other one to help the others. Many people live using one hand only. The others, yet, use both hands for themselves only. That is why so few people live in luxury and happiness, and so many live in hardship and misery. I want to turn things around, for I don’t want anybody to be unhappy, lonely and poor. It is my wish that we all are happy and help each other... HRH Crown Princess Katherine • HRH Crown Princess Katherine started her humanitarian work in the nineties, when our country was going through wars, exiles, isolation, poverty... Aiming to help the victims of tragic conflicts in Yugoslavia, HRH Crown Princess Katherine established “Lifeline” foundation in London and New York. Through those offices, this humanitarian organization had kept in touch with the international community and had been pointing at the urgent needs of reconstruction and rehabilitation of our country, which resulted in appointing HRH Crown Princess Katherine the coordinator of humanitarian activities in Yugoslavia by the Federal Government. • The Foundation of HRH Crown Princess Katherine invites all people of good will to help those who most in need of it, it contributes to the better future of the young in Yugoslavia by establishing contacts throughout the world and organizing workshops, seminars, student exchange and scholarships... Each month the Foundation organizes meetings at the Royal Palace for the representatives of the Government, local and international NGOs, UN and EU agencies. • Children always come first, so HRH Crown Princess Katherine was very glad to hear about the initiative from Yugoslav fashion industry to help the work of this Foundation by rallying aid (in money , clothes, shoes, fabrics...) for all those children, institutions and hospitals who are in need of help. On Saturday, 7 September, as the YUTEF’s reporter together with my colleague, the magazine’s photographer, I had a rare professional pleasure and personal honor to meet HRH Crown Princess Katherine at the Royal Palace, and to spend over an hour there doing this exclusive interview. It was difficult to overcome the excitement. But as soon as the Palace gate was opened, as if by some magic, the excitement was replaced by tranquility and warmth. Positive energy, so necessary at that moment, came from somewhere. After the usual formalities that went spontaneously and in refined manners, we were introduced to HRH Crown Princess Katherine, and soon we cordially shook hands with HRH Crown Prince Aleksandar II, who did us a great joy by suggesting to take a photo with him. Then we were introduced to HRH Prince Filip. After meeting the Royal Family, it was no longer difficult to understand where that energy that we had felt in the beautiful Palace park came from. Interview with HRH Crown Princess Katherine started at the Blue Room Radmila Vukelic (further on: YUTEF) : Your Royal Highness, with enormous energy, love, kindness and deep understanding , you focus on rallying aid for the people in need. You have helped many to regain their self confidence and to have new hope. Would you be so kind to tell our readers what the further plans of your Foundation are. HRH Crown Princess Katherine: When you love people, you do everything you can to find the energy to help them. I have been working for over ten years to help the people of our country, and this is only a part of the energy I have. I have found out it was much more difficult to help from abroad, than from here. Now that I am home, I can see for myself what the needs and priorities are. When I look into people’s eyes and see the fulfillment and pleasure, I get wings and I feel as if I’m flying. I don’t want the sick ever again to wait to be treated. I have an immense wish that all people are well and happy. I am convinced that if we all focus on the well being of our people, and if we unite and work together, above politics and religion, putting PEOPLE first, we shall have incredible results. Our people are very clever and talented and they are ready for professional challenges. They are Europeans and they must live like Europeans and be treated as Europeans, having privileges like all Europeans. Until that happens my husband and I shall not stop. Yutef: Please let me make a personal remark. In my work as a journalist I have spent most of my time to the health care system and I am well informed about the poverty of our hospitals, which was result of many misunderstandings in our country. I feel the need to thank you personally for your valuable aid to our health institutions. HRH Crown Princess Katherine: Since you’ve mentioned misunderstandings, I wish to say that everything in our lives comes down to focus and attitude. If you focus on a goal, and what you want to achieve, and in addition you have a positive and realistic attitude, then you have the necessary results. If not, you become a part of the stupidities that are imposed on you. There must and there can always be a way to raise above it. We could achieve so much together... Yutef: With your permission, Yutef would like to, in accordance with its competence as the information center of Yugoslav fashion industry, invite fashion businessmen to join the humanitarian work of your Foundation. HRH Crown Princess Katherine: My Foundation certainly needs friends and associates, for no one can achieve anything alone. I think there are many jobs that we can do together. One of the ways I see for our future cooperation is the appeal in your magazine that I am making right now. I appeal for the fabrics that would be used for hospital uniforms, for pyjamas and night gowns for the hospitals. By the end of September a shipment of forty sewing machines will have arrived, and many other things. It is my wish to make a workshop for the refugee women. We have a team of forty refugee women. In that way we could give them an opportunity to contribute, which is a feeling they miss now. The great problem of refugees is that they have lost their dignity by becoming useless to themselves and to the others. We must assure them that they important and that the refugee status makes them neither better nor worse than any other people. We are all God’s creatures taking difficult paths. Refugees need us, and we must help them. At the same time we shall help our hospitals and orphanages, by making pyjamas for the children. If we get enough fabrics we shall be able to make linen and many other things that are needed by those institutions. One day we might make clothes for the orphans, for school children, as well as for any other need. It is very important to help ourselves, and to make others realize that we are capable of it. Finally, it is a way to stand on our own feet much faster. We are proud people, and to be able to help ourselves is a part of pride. Everybody in our country who is in position to help, and I think your magazine is, can find the way to cooperate. I thank you for the initiative that Yutef supports my Foundation. I am giving you the right to use the name of my Foundation in your magazine, and since you are supporting us, it is going to be a good start. Please print the name, address and phone numbers of my Foundation in your next issue, together with this interview and the appeal for the fabrics for hospital uniforms, pyjamas, night gowns and linen. You can set an example to the others. Each time you look at your watch – think of love Yutef: On behalf of Yutef and personally, I thank you for your trust and I’m convinced it is going to be a successful cooperation. HRH Crown Princess Katherine: You see, when I was very young, I asked my mother who was a great philanthropist, just like my father was, how I could be of use. I grew up with parents who taught me that the greatest joy in life was the joy of giving. All my life I prayed to God to give me a chance to help the others and to make their lives better. I believe in destiny. I believe that is why I’m here today. When my parents used to say to me the greatest joy in life was to give to the others, they taught me the first thing I should do was to become an example to those who were around me. That is why I am asking you today to be also an example to other people in our country. The example by which you and your magazine put your talent and your knowledge at service to the others. Popularity comes with care of the others. I would like very much to see our media trying to emphasize the good news, not just the bad ones. We must stop focusing only on the negative side of our lives. It is necessary to turn to positive things. If someone does a good deed today, it won’t be in the headlines. The headlines are unfortunately still filled with those have done something bad. My wish is that everyone who is kind to the others is in the headlines. Just last week I closed the summer camp for the orphans from Serbia. I gave wrist watches to all the children. I told them the reason why I gave them the wrist watches was that time for them was – love. Whenever they look at the time, they must think of love and they must hug someone and think of one good thing they must do. I believe God gave us two hands so that we could use one for ourselves, and the other one to help the others. Many people live using one hand only. The others, yet, use both hands for themselves only. That is why so few people live in luxury and happiness, and so many live in hardship and misery. I want to turn things around, for I don’t want anybody to be unhappy, lonely and poor. It is my wish that we all are happy and help each other. I wish we became a country that would know how to show respect for everybody and to find the way of unity. For the last ten years we had the worst possible situation a country could have. I wish it was changed and our country, that survived war, bombing, threats, isolation and was neglected, became the most popular country in the world. I wish we showed we survived because we were united, we were organized and because we loved life and respected the fact we were God’s creatures. That is my goal and my husband’s goal and that is why we are living at this Palace. We are here to help our people and to be above politics, above religion. This country needs a symbol of unity and continuity, and my husband represent it. I think my husband is a God’s gift for this country. He has great love for his people. He is respected all over the world and he respects everybody, regardless of their religious and ethnic origin. It is time for us to establish a strong economy, and we can only do that if we have friends and if we prove to the world who we really are, if we all help to change the opinion on us and on everything that was released in the biased media. Yutef: Would you be so kind to revive your memories of Princess Diana, whom you shared love for humanitarian work, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of her tragic death? HRH Crown Princess Katherine: I was really close to Princess Diana. She was a wonderful lady who wanted to do good to the whole world. She was very much misunderstood in her time. Sometimes when you want to do good to the world it ends up that you finish in a different category about which people don’t know anything and don’t understand it. Misunderstanding comes from the people who feel they are incapable of reaching the high point of such kindness. After Princess Diana’s death one could see how much love and appreciation English people had for her. It is a great shame that she had to die to make people realize her true value, and that she was someone who had done many good deeds throughout the world. That is why I respect and appreciate her. We used to talk about our humanitarian work. She always wanted to know what was going on in Yugoslavia and she was very worried because of the conflicts in this area. She used to encouraged me to keep on, for she knew how deeply affected I was by it. Good deeds are always in fashion! Yutef: As Yutef is a specialized magazine, our readers will certainly be especially interested in your opinion on fashion. You dress in a moderate manner. If I may notice, you prefer more tranquil options. What place does fashion have in your life? HRH Crown Princess Katherine: Being good is in fashion. Make it a part of your magazine. One who is not kind and happy, can’t look good either. Otherwise, I don’t pay much attention to what I wear. Not because I don’t want to , but because I don’t have the time. I am a woman and I have the needs like any other woman, but this is no time for myself, this is the time for the others. I would have to have more time to follow fashion. In most cases I take what is in front of me in my wardrobe, put it on and run on. I am very critical to myself and I don’t want to look at my clothes for more than five minutes, because I have better things to do with my time. As I mentioned before, I believe each result depends on how a man focuses on the problem, and on the attitude. That is why I always want to have a positive and realistic attitude towards everything and I always ask myself about what I am focused on, in order to be sure I didn’t go off the road I took. Yutef: Our fashion designers and fashion industry have a difficult task, working in an impoverished country, to prepare collections that will be in fashion and made of quality fabrics, and at the same time to find large enough market for them. Are we managing to stay our own? HRH Crown Princess Katherine: I think men should dress like men, and women like women. People should wear the clothes that suit them, not to imitate someone else. We must have a clear idea of who and what we are, and be proud of ourselves and make ourselves better. We should not be anybody’s clones. Each one of us has build one’s personality, and clothes is a part of us. If we try to imitate someone every day and want to look like somebody else, then we shall lose our identity and won’t know who we are. In that case we won’t have anything to give to the others. We have our bodies that we put clothes on, and that is what we show. To the others, you show your clothes and yourself. The most important thing is to be what you are and to feel good. Of course, everyone should have the courage to try something new. To change hair style, clothes, colors... A man should not limit in what he wants. We only have one life and many choices, and they are up to us. The choice of clothes should be fun. Still, I am a little conservative in my attitude on how a woman should be dressed. I think a woman looks better when she shows less. Those who show all they’ve got are trying to draw attention for different reasons. We should first give what we‘ve got inside ourselves. That is what lasts for years. Anyway, married women should dress for themselves and their husbands, and not for other men. Yutef: Did you have the time and opportunity to choose a fashion house in our country that would suit your taste? HRH Crown Princess Katherine: I wish I could find my fashion shop in Belgrade, but at the moment I can’t focus on that. We have been here for over a year. We have had nine and a half thousand guests at the Palace, we have brought hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid, ambulances.. If God gave me more hours during the day I might try to find a few moments and order clothes for myself. I would be very proud and would love to wear clothes made by the hands of our tailors and designers, here, in my country. I have seen that our people are just as competent as in any big house of fashion in the world, if not better. I think they only lacked the opportunities to present themselves, but they will have their chance. Yutef: Do you see the possibility for our fashion industry to make a more significant break into the world market. Perhaps even to set a trend with some details of our folklore, which is amazing in some parts of Serbia? HRH Crown Princess Katherine: It all depends on what we want. Whether we want to produce clothes here and sell it abroad, or to open shops with our clothes abroad. That should be decided and start with what we are best at. Big fashion houses should be invited to our country and shown our fashion, and then we should ask them to say what they believe would be sold in their countries. Whatever we do we must be successful. We must sincerely admit that there are some things we are good at, and some things we are not. What we are not good at is marketing, public relations, organization and that is an imperative when you open the door to the foreigners and try to do business. We must strengthen in those areas and learn from big fashion houses the importance of public relations and marketing, and how to use our talents in fashion industry. Each product gets legs when you support it with marketing, public relations and good organization. Otherwise, there is no success. Yutef: Your Royal Highness, on behalf of Yutef and personally, I most kindly thank you for your time for this interview, for your trust and honor you have shown to us. I am leaving the Royal Palace with pride and love for you and your family. HRH Crown Princess Katherine: Thank you. I congratulate everybody in our country on their effort to look good, as well as to the fashion houses that are helping them in doing so. JOINT HUMANITARIAN PROGRAM OF THE FOUNDATION OF HRH CROWN PRINCESS KATHERINE AND YUTEF • The first to answer the appeal was Fashion House of St. George Children always come first, so HRH Crown Princess Katherine was very glad to hear about the initiative from Yugoslav fashion industry to help the work of this Foundation by rallying aid (in money , clothes, shoes, fabrics...) for all those children, institutions and hospitals who are in need of help. Thus Princess Katherine appealed to all those manufacturers and people of good will to help in clothes and shoes those children for whom the coming winter will be very long and cold. Also, linen for hospitals and pyjamas and night gowns for the patients are needed, pointed out HRH Crown Princess Katherine during the interview and that is why all help in fabrics will be welcome. - It is my wish to make a workshop for refugee women. We have a team of forty refugee women. In that way we could give them an opportunity to contribute, which is a feeling they miss now. The great problem of refugees is that they have lost their dignity by becoming useless to themselves and to the others. The Foundation has provided forty sewing machines and they will be able to make commercial clothes and earn in that way. That is why we need fabrics, threads and other materials... * Yutef will, in every issue, give space to this program, and companies that contribute most to it, will be specially pointed out. It is our great pleasure to say that the program already started its life when this issue was closed, for our partners and friends from the Fashion House of St. George already announced their contribution in clothes to the children from orphanages, fabric and threads for the refugee women team, and also wool to make warm jumpers, caps and scarves for the children. Yutef thanks to the Fashion House St.George and invites other manufacturers to join this humanitarian program. All additional information are available from Yutef or directly from the Foundation.
Yutef: Kako je Yutef specijalizovan casopis, nase citaoce ce sigurno posebno zanimati Vasi stavovi o modi. Odevate se strozije i odmereno. Ako mi dozvolite da primetim, radije se odlucujete za mirnije varijante. Koje mesto pripada modi u Vasem zivotu? NJ.
K. V. Princeza Katarina:
U modi je da budete dobri. Ucinite da to bude deo vaseg casopisa. Ko nije
dobar i nije srecan ne moze ni da izgleda dobro. Yutef: Nasi modni kreatori kao i modna industrija imaju tezak zadatak, a to je da u osiromasenoj zemlji pripreme kolekcije koje ce biti moderne i od kvalitetnih materijala, a istovremeno i da bude dovoljno onih koji ce moci da ih kupuju. Po vasoj oceni uspevamo li da ostanemo svoji ? NJ.
K. V. Princeza Katarina:
Jedino smatram da bi muskarci trebalo da se oblace kao muskarci, a zene
kao zene. Ljudi treba da nose odecu koja im pristaje, a ne da imitiraju
nekog drugog. Moramo imati jasnu predstavu o tome ko smo i sta smo i biti
ponosni na sebe i uciniti sebe najboljim sto se moze. Ne treba da budemo
niciji klonovi. Svako od nas je godinama izgradivao sopstvenu licnost, a
odeca je deo nas. Ako svakoga dana pokusavamo da nekoga imitiramo zato sto
zelimo da izgledamo kao neko drugi, onda cemo izgubiti identitet i necemo
znati ko smo. U tom slucaju necemo imati sta da damo drugima. Imamo telo
koje je obuceno i to je ono sto pokazujemo. Drugima pokazujete svoju odecu
i sebe. Najvaznije je da covek bude ono sto jeste i da se oseca dobro. Yutef: Da li je bilo vremena i prilike da u nasoj zemlji odaberete modnu kucu koja bi zadovoljila vas ukus? NJ. K. V. Princeza Katarina: Volela bih da pronadem svoju modnu prodavnicu u Beogradu, ali trenutno ne mogu da se usredsredim na to. Ovde smo nesto vise od godinu dana. U Dvoru smo, za to vreme, imali devet i po hiljada gostiju, doneli smo stotine kamiona humanitarne pomoci, vozila hitne pomoci... Ukoliko mi Bog da vise sati u toku dana, mozda cu krajem godine pokusati da pronadem nekoliko trenutaka i onda pravim odecu po meri za sebe. Bila bih veoma ponosna i volela bih da nosim odecu koja je napravljena rukama nasih krojaca, modelara, kreatora..., ovde u mojoj zemlji. Uvidela sam da su nasi ljudi dobri, isto onoliko koliko i velike modne kuce u svetu, ako ne i bolji. Samo mislim da nasi ljudi nisu imali mogucnosti da se iskazu, ali imace. Yutef: Vidite li mogucnosti da nasa modna industrija ostvari snazniji prodor na svetskom trzistu. Mozda i da se nametne nekim detaljima narodne nosnje, koja je u nekim krajevima Srbije zadivljuce raskosna? NJ. K. V. Princeza Katarina: Sve zavisi od toga sta hocemo. Da li zelimo da proizvodimo odecu ovde i prodajemo je u inostranstvu ili da u inostranstvu otvorimo prodavnice sa nasom odecom. To treba odluciti i krenuti od onoga u cemu smo najbolji. Jednoga dana treba pozvati velike inostrane modne kuce u nasu zemlju i pokazati im nasu modu i od njih traziti da nam kazu sta misle da bi se kod njih prodavalo. Sta god da radimo moramo biti uspesni. Iskreno moramo da priznamo da postoje neke stvari u kojima smo dobri i neke u kojima nismo. Ono u cemu nismo dobri jeste marketing, odnosi sa javnoscu, organizacija, a to je imperativ kada otvarate vrata inostranstvu i pokusavate da pravite biznis. U tim oblastima moramo da se ojacamo i od velikih modnih kompanija iz inostranstva naucimo znacaj organizacije odnosa sa javnoscu, i marketinga, i da u modi iskoristimo svoj talenat. Svaki proizvod dobija noge kada ga podrzite marketinski, odnosima sa javnoscu i dobrom organizacijom. U suprotnom, nece biti uspeha. Yutef: Vase Kraljevsko Visocanstvo, u ime Yutefa i u svoje licno ime najljubaznije vam zahvaljujem na vremenu koje ste izdvojili za ovaj intervju, poverenju i casti koju ste nam ukazali. Iz Kraljevskog dvora odlazim ponosna i s ljubavlju za vas i vasu porodicu. NJ. K. V. Princeza Katarina: Zahvaljujem vam. Svima u nasoj zemlji cestitam na njihovom trudu da izgledaju lepo, kao i modnim kucama koje im pomazu u tome.
Zajednicka humanitarna akcija:
Deca su uvek na prvom mestu, tako da se
NJ. K. V. Princeza Katarina iskreno obradovala inicijativi da modni
poslenici Jugoslavije pomognu rad ove Fondacije, prikupljanjem pomoci za
sve one malisane, kojima je takva pomoc potrebna. Otuda je Princeza
apelovala na sve one proizvodjace i ljude dobrog srca i dobre volje da
pomognu odecom i obucom malisane kojima ce, bez ove pomoci, nastupajuca
zima biti veoma duga i veoma hladna. * Yutef ce, iz broja u broj, posvecivati prostor ovoj akciji, a firme koje u ovome budu najazurnije bice posbno istaknute. Veliko nam je zadovoljstvio sto mozemo da istaknemo da je Akcija, jos tokom zakljucenja ovog broja, vec zazivela, jer su nasi poslovni partneri i prijatelji iz Modne kuce St. GEORGE vec najavili svoj doprinos u odeci za decu iz sirotista, metrazi i koncima za krojacki tim zena-izbeglica i u vunici, kako bi majke-izbeglice, vicne rucnom radu, obukle decu u tople dzemprcice, kape i salove. Yutef se zahvaljuje Modnoj kuci St. GEORGE i poziva i druge proizvodjace da isprate ovu humanitarnu Akciju. Sve dodatne informacije mozete dobitri na jedan od Yutefovih telefona ili u direktnom kontaktu sa Fondacijom. |
|
|
|
webmaster@royalfamily.org
|
