THE ROYAL COUPLE RECEIVE LITTLE THEODORA AND HER FATHER AT THE ROYAL PALACE

CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER AND CROWN PRINCESS KATHERINE HAVE DONE EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SAVE HER LIFE

Belgrade, 7 June 2011 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine received today little Theodora and her father Zoran at the Royal Palace. Theodora is a 15 year old girl who was seriously ill three years ago, when Crown Princess Katherine organized her bone marrow transplantation in the best hospital in Greece. Also present were Prof. Dr Ida Jovanovic, director of the University Children’s Clinic in Tirsova and Prof. Janjic, Theodora’s doctor in the University Children’s Clinic during the worst period of her illness.

In 2008 Theodora, who lived in Kosovo with her family, was diagnosed with a very difficult form of Leukemia, and doctors in Serbia and later on in Greece gave her only a 10% chance of survival. Nevertheless she received initial treatment in the University Children’s Hospital in Belgrade, where she met HRH Princess Katherine during one of her visits, and that was turning point in Theodora’s life. After Crown prince Katherine was introduced to Theodora, and was explained the nature of her disease, Princess Katherine decided to do everything possible to help the young girl. She immediately contacted doctors from the Children’s Aghia Sophia Hospital in Athens, the best hospital in Greece for bone marrow transplantation in children. This complicated and delicate operation was finally performed in August 2009 by Prof. Dr. Stelios Graphakos a famous Greek surgeon and Head of the Department for Bone Marrow Transplantation. Princess Katherine managed to obtain a completely new drug worth $ 50,000, that was just recently registered in the United States and brought it to Greece.

The operation was successful and it was really a miracle. One year and a half years after the surgery Theodora does not have a health problem. Her parents decided that she should stay in Greece because of post operational treatment and checkups, and now she lives with her father in an "Elpida home" owned by Mrs. Marianna Vardinoyannis, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and a close friend of Princess Katherine, who accommodated them for free. She attends school there and she speaks Greek very well. She behaves as all the girls of her age, listens to music, goes shopping, uses Facebook, etc.

Theodora was very excited to see Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine, and could hardly wait to tell them all about her life in Athens.

HRH Princess Katherine was very touched to see again Theodora and wished her all the best, and to finish school in Greece with best possible marks. They chattered in Greek for a while, and understood each other perfectly. The Crown Princess gave her a lovely present from the Companies Mala Moda Marija and All Grosso.