THEIR MAJESTIES KING ALEXANDER I AND QUEEN MARIA 85TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION

The Official Wedding Photograph of HM King Alexaner I and HM Queen Maria, Belgrade 1922

Belgrade, 8 June 2007 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine hosted tonight a reception and exhibition in honour of the 85th wedding anniversary of Their Majesties King Alexander I and Queen Maria, at the White Palace, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Margarita of Romania, His Serene Highness Prince Radu of Hohenzollern-Veringen, and Her Royal Highness Princess Katarina, and her husband Sir Desmond de Silva QC.

Also present were many distinguished guests from the diplomatic corps, the business, political, cultural, intellectual and religious community.

In his speech, Crown Prince Alexander II said: “The Royal Wedding held on 8 June 1922 brought together two people in love and two nations in friendship”. He added that this wedding was greeted “in Belgrade and in Bucharest with much rejoicing and a very happy atmosphere”. The Crown Prince concluded that “the remembrance of the King and the Queen is still binding us as heirs and descendants, cousins and friends”.

After that, Mr. Cedomir Antic, Crown Council member, gave a speech. He said that the Serbian Royal Family had achieved international acknowledgement when King Alexander I Karadjordjevic married the Romanian Princess Maria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

“If our state could not have always been considered as an equal member of the European family of nations and states, our Dynasty has, with this act, finally become European. The descendants of King Alexander and Queen Maria became thus the heirs to the European thrones which stretched back a thousand years”, Mr. Antic said.

Mr Antic reminded everyone of the virtues of King Alexander – of his role as warrior and military commander, of his role in creating a strong and long lasting Balkan Alliance known as the Little Entente, and of his role as Unifier of the South Slavic peoples into a large state, later known as Yugoslavia. King Alexander was assassinated in 1934 in Marseille, which marked an end of an era.

An interesting part of the evening was the exhibition dedicated to the Wedding Ceremony and to Their Majesties King Alexander and Queen Maria. The golden tiara of the Queen caught a lot of attention, as did the King’s sabre. Other objects included: the wedding certificate, the Royal Portraits, a menu, sitting and standing arrangements during the Royal Wedding, the epaulets, the photographs, the poudrierre, Ball program of the wedding, etc.

The exhibition was made possible thanks to the Endowment of King Peter I at Oplenac, the Military Museum, the Historical Museum of Serbia, the Archives of Serbia and Yugoslavia, and private collectors.