The Indianapolis Star

While other jet-setters party, prince seeks aid for homeland

Prince Alexander II and his wife, Princess Katherine (left), are here meeting with philanthropists like Christel DeHaan in hopes of getting help for Serbia and Montenegro. -- John Severson / The Star

By Will Higgins

Alexander II, the crown prince of Serbia and Montenegro, is in Indianapolis this weekend, as are a lot of other high-toned Europeans. But the prince has little interest in auto racing and no plans to attend the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.

He's here to get help. His nation -- ravaged by the Nazis, then by the communists, and more recently by dictator Slobodan Milosevic -- is in bad shape: Poverty is rampant; unemployment is 40 percent. What it needs, the prince said Friday, is economic development. It needs foreign investment.

To that end, Alexander, 56, and his wife, Katherine, the Greek-born crown princess, are networking across America. Indianapolis is one of seven stops. It has been a success. Alexander met with Sidney Taurel, the Eli Lilly and Co. chairman. He met with a group of movers and shakers from the Chamber of Commerce. He met with key doctors from Indiana University Medical Center. Best of all, he was hosted by Christel DeHaan.

The retired business tycoon and philanthropist has a charity, Christel House, which helps educate more than 2,000 children in five countries. In January, she tested the waters in Serbia by opening an after-school program for children living in refugee camps. Her total investment so far is just $15,000, but there's more where that came from. Forbes magazine reported earlier this month that DeHaan is worth around $740 million.

The crown prince and crown princess acknowledge they aren't worth as much as DeHaan, but they did jazz up the guest list at DeHaan's annual Christel House fund-raiser party Friday.

Alexander was born in London, where his parents went to flee the Nazis. He lived in England most of his life. He has an English accent, and the other day had on a gray, double-breasted, double-vented suit, like the kind Prince Charles wears. He sometimes stood right hand in jacket pocket, like Prince Charles does. It was obvious Alexander was not from around here.

Alexander does understand business. He has been in banking, construction and insurance for more than 30 years. His political instincts aren't bad, either. In the 1990s, Alexander spoke out against Milosevic, known as "the butcher of the Balkans," before such opposition became popular. Soon after Milosevic's ouster, in 2000, Alexander and his wife left England and moved into the ancestral palace in Belgrade.

He has a diplomatic passport but no official governing role -- Serbia and Montenegro is not a constitutional monarchy. But he has created for himself a role: economic development. He knows business. He knows also that if you're a crown prince, people return your phone calls. He is at present on a seven-city tour of the United States, scouting for rich people to come to his country's aid.

Nothing wrong with auto racing, says the prince, who is leaving Indianapolis on Sunday morning -- "Your race is a great thing. But we've got hospitals with no antibiotics. We have to move on." Next stop: San Francisco.