HRH CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER II WITH HIS FAMILY CELEBRATES PATRON SAINT’S DAY OF THE ROYAL HOUSE, SAINT ANDREW THE FIRST CALLED

Belgrade, 13 December 2002 – TRH Crown Prince Alexander II, Crown Princess Katherine and Prince Filip, together with the members of the Royal House HRH Princess Margarita (the first wife of late Prince Tomislav), Prince Nikola (the son of Prince Tomislav and Princess Margarita), his wife Princess Ljiljana and his daughter Princess Maria, celebrated for the second time the Day of Saint Andrew the First Called, Patron Saint of the Karadjordjevics, at their home in Dedinje.

His Holiness Patriarch of Serbia Pavle served the Holy Liturgy at the Royal Chapel, after which there was a ceremony of cutting the “Slava” cake in the Blue room of the Royal Palace.

In a short speech His Holiness said: “Our people celebrate neither birthdays nor name days as much as they celebrate Patron Saint’s day. Patron Saint’s day is greater than birthday and any other holiday for a family, for it is the day when it accepted Christianity.

May God and Saint Andrew the First Called save us in these difficult times as the people and as nation, to preserve ourselves under any circumstances as God’s people.

God grant peace to the Royal Family and the whole Serbian nation, the peace so much needed to this country and its people.”

The ceremony was attended by two Metropolitans and ten Bishops of Serbian Orthodox Church, representative of Constantinople Patriarch in EU His Grace Metropolitan Emanuel, Roman Catholic Bishop of Belgrade Stanislav Hocevar, Anglican priest in Belgrade Rev. Fillip Warner, the Bishop of Christian Reformed Church Rev. Istvan Cete-Semesi, Father Vitalij Tarsjev from the Russian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, Federal Secretary of Religion Prof. Dr. Bogoljub Sijakovic, Serbian Minister of Religion Prof. Dr. Vojislav Milovanovic, as well as the members of the Crown Council.

After cutting the cake, there was a formal lunch for the guests.

During the day, three formal receptions were organized at the White and the Royal Palace, at which Their Royal Highnesses hosted the representatives of Federal and Serbian Government, diplomatic corps, delegation from Republika Srpska headed by the President of Republika Srpska Mr. Dragan Cavic and the President of the Parliament Mr. Dragan Kalinic and a number of Ministers, representatives of local and international NGOs, cultural institutions, media and health institutions, grantees of the Fund of the Royal House of Karadjordjevics and numerous distinguished guests from public, cultural and political life of Serbia and Yugoslavia.