THE SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY SINCE THE ASSASSINATION OF CHIVALROUS KING ALEXANDER FIRST HAS BEEN MARKED

Belgrade, 9 October 2004 - H.R.H. Crown Prince Alexander II and H.R.H. Crown Princess Katherine have today laid a wreath on the tomb of King Alexander I. They have also attended a Liturgy and the Memorial Service for the King of the blessed memory held at the endowment Church of St. George in Oplenac.

Upon the Liturgy and the Memorial Service, officiated by His Graces Bishop Jovan of Sumadija and Bishop Porfirije of Jegar together with clergymen of the Sumadija Eparchy, a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and arts and a member of the Crown Council, Mr Batija Beckovic addressed the present public. He reminded them of the life and great brave achievement of King Alexander I. He stressed that, in spite of many warnings, King Alexander did not fear death. He had been working until the last moment on strengthening Serbia and on her recognition into Europe and into the world.

H.R.H. Crown Prince Alexander has then thanked all who came to honour a memory of his grandfather, King Alexander I.

“It would appear that our country is in a historical repetitive stage of events. We must come clean and not fight each other. We must unite and embrace democratic principles for once and all. We cannot be indecisive anymore and fall behind the rest of Europe. We must accelerate our reforms. We must respect human rights and all religions and ethnic believes. We must honour our international commitments and have rule of law. We must have a new modern constitution and why not use the experience of the Spanish. After dictatorship the Kingdom of Spain became a great successful democracy and member of the European Union. We need political stability to attract investors and partners. We need to improve our image and public relations.

King Alexander did not have time to finish his work and therefore it is up to all citizens, and that includes politicians, to unite in the best interests of our country and complete the democratic process. Our best interest must be to carefully accelerate work for the conditions for entry into the European Union. We cannot afford to fall behind the European Democracies. Thank you all for being here today and for honouring my grandfather” - stressed in his speech The Crown Prince.

After the speech The Crown Prince and Princess have opened the exhibition “The Royal insignia of the Karadjordjevic Dinasty” at the King Peter I House. This opening was followed by Cocktails at the King Alexander’s Villa.

King Alexander was assassinated in Marseille 70 years ago, during his state visit to France where he had gone to straighten the defence alliance against Nazi Germany of that time. On that day in 1934 the French Foreign Minister also lost his life. King Alexander was buried with the highest state honours at the Endowment of King Peter I in Oplenac. The National Assembly and Council of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had given him the name the Chivalrous King Alexander I the Liberator.

The ceremony to mark the 70th Anniversary since the assassination of H.M. King Alexander I was attended, apart from Their Royal Highnesses, by H.R.H .Princess Linda, HRH Princes George and Michael, representatives of the advisories bodies of the Crown, diplomatic corps, representatives of religious communities as well as by numerous citizens. The members of the Police Academy stood a guard of honour for the King the Unifier of the blessed memory.