THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES AT OPLENAC FOR THE 190TH COMMEMORATION OF THE DEATH OF KARADJORDJE

Belgrade, 26 July 2007 - Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine attended this morning the Holy Liturgy at the St. George church at Oplenac in Topola and the commemoration service for the Supreme Leader Karadjordje, the commander of the First Serbian Uprising (1804) and founder of modern Serbia and the Karadjordjevic Dynasty.

Apart from Their Royal Highnesses, the Holy Liturgy and the commemoration service were attended by Mr. Milorad Savicevic, member of the Advisory Bodies of the Crown, representatives of the Municipality of Topola and the people who gathered to pay their respect to the founder of the modern Serbian state.

After that, at the St. George church at Oplenac, where the members of the Dynasty аre buried, there was a ceremony of laying wreaths on Karadjordje’s grave, with all state and military honours.

The first to lay the wreath was Karadjordje's descendant Crown Prince Alexander II Karadjordjevic, followed by the representatives of the President of Serbia, the Government of Serbia, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Defence, the Municipalities of Topola and Smederevska Palanka, the Endowment of King Peter I in Topola, members of the Association for preserving tradition of wars of liberation, and other admirers of Karadjordje.

This was the first part of today’s activities in memory of Karadjordje, who was assassinated on this day in Radovanjski Lug in 1817. Tonight, on a summer stage near Velika Plana, in the immediate vicinity of Radovanjski Lug, the premiere of the new Serbian film "Black Dawn" will be held. Their Royal Highnesses will attend this premiere especially arranged to be on this location to mark the 190th year since the death of Supreme Leader Karadjordje.