MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR HIS MAJESTY KING ALEXANDER I

Belgrade, Topola, 9 October 2006 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine attended Divine Liturgy and a Memorial Service in the Saint George Church at Oplenac for His Majesty King Alexander.

The church service that was officiated by His Grace Bishop Jovan of Sumadija and the clergy of Sumadija parish was also attended by the son of Prince Paul His Royal Highness Prince Alexander. After the service Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine, Mr. Dragomir Acovic and Professor Dragoljub Kavran Members of Advisory Bodies to the Crown, and the admirers of HM Late King Alexander the Unifier laid wreaths and flowers on the King’s grave.

The ceremony was organized with highest state honours in the presence of the representatives of the Serbian Government and Armed Forces, the local authorities of City of Topola, representatives of several Sumadija Municipalities, Endowment of King Peter I, as well as many representatives of monarchist clubs and citizens.

King Alexander I was assassinated in Marseille 9 October 1934 along with the French Foreign Minister Monsieur Louis Barthou during a state visit to France, King Alexander had travelled to France to strengthen the defensive alliance with that country against Nazi Germany. The King’s death deeply moved the whole of Yugoslavia, and hundreds of thousands of people paid their last respects all along the funeral route through the country to the royal crypt in Oplenac Serbia, King Alexander I was buried there in the Mausoleum of the Church of St. George, built by King Peter I.

In recognition of his greatest accomplishments the National Parliament and the Senate of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia named him King Alexander I The Unifier