HRH CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER II ADDRESSES SERBIAN STATE OFFICIALS REGARDING THE TRANSFER TO SERBIA OF THE REMAINS OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY BURIED ABROAD

Belgrade, 1 February 2012 – His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II again sent letters to H.E. Mr. Boris Tadic, President of Serbia and H.E. Dr. Mirko Cvetkovic, Prime Minister with a renewed request that the earthly remains of His Majesty King Peter II of Yugoslavia (father of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II and the last KIng of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), Her Majesty Queen Maria of Yugoslavia (wife of HM King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and grandmother of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II), Her Majesty Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia (wife of HM King Peter II and mother of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II), His Royal Highness Prince Andrej (youngest brother of HM King Peter II and uncle of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II), His Royal Highness Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Her Royal Highness Princess Olga (wife of HRH Prince Paul) and their son His Royal Highness Prince Nicholas are to be transferred to Serbia and buried with highest state tributes in the Crypt of St. George Church in Oplenac. Another letter was sent to His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, asking for his blessing.

HRH Crown Prince Alexander II emphasized in his letter to state officials: “I am not addressing you as a son, a grandson or a relative of the deceased, but I am addressing you as a Serb in Serbia. The personalities of their ranks should not be transferred and buried because of family piety, but should be escorted with official state tributes as a gesture of historical respect, reconciliation and understanding. It is an act of historic importance, and as such should be responsibility of highest elected officials in the State.”