The funeral service and ceremony of HRH Prince Aleksandar Pavlov Karadjordjevic, begun at 10.30h on the 20th of May, 2016. HRH Prince Aleksandar was buried in the family crypt in the courtyard of the Temple of St. George in Oplenac. The funeral service and ceremony was attended by HRH Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein, sons Mihailo, Sergeј and Dušan, HRH Crown Prince Aleksandar and HRH Crown Princess Katarina, HRH Crown Prince Petar, HRH Princess Jelisaveta, HRH Princess Linda, as well as other family members.
Besides the representatives of the Serbian Royal house, the funeral was attended by the representatives of the Royal houses of Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom, representatives of the diplomatic corps, President of the Cabinet of HRH Prince Aleksandar Mr. Srdjan Stanišić, Grand Commander of the Sovereign Military Order of the Dragon Mr. Dejan Damjanović, along with other members of the Order of the Dragon, the Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army General Ljubiša Diković, representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the President of the Republic of Serbia, representative of the Government of the Republic of Serbia as well as the many friends of HRH Crown Prince Aleksandar.
The funeral service was done by the Bishop of Šumadija Jovan and Bishop of Australia and New Zealand Irinej. Bishop Jovan after the liturgy said: “Along the path of he encounter with the eternal and ressurected God, left our noble and good Prince Aleksandar. I met for the first time our good Prince shortly after arriving in the Diocese of Sumadija. He used to visit me often, we talked a lot about everything, about his life, and his hard path. I have seen, experienced and felt, that that the Prince had a big heart and a lot of love for everyone. He radiated with kindness. I saw that he loves his people and his Serbia as well as his beautiful Šumadija. Prince used to say- first, I am a Šumadinian, then the pilot and only then the prince. Let prayer of St. George, the patron of the temple on Oplenac and protector of the town of Topola, accompany our Prince to the kingdom of heaven. Let the earth of your beloved Šumadije where you’ll wait for the resurrection, be light to you. ”
After the liturgy, the coffin of HRH Prince Aleksandar was carried to the tomb, made of marble from Venčac, by the six members of the 98th Serbian Airborne Brigade from Lađevac. The coffin was lowered by six men from Šumadija in their traditional costumes, from the villages Vojkovci and Jarmenovci: Mirko and Milan Arsenijević Dragan Jovanović, Milivoje Gavrilović, Mihailo Nedeljković and Predrag Luburić.
Pillow with medals and decorations of HRH Prince Aleksandar was carried from the temple to the tomb in front of the coffin by the Grand commander of the Order of the Dragon, Mr. Dejan Damjanović. In addition to the family, a clod of earth to the tomb of Prince Aleksandar placed Mr. N.Poljanec from Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia. He is the owner and director of a museum dedicated to the Karadjordjević dynasty and for this occasion he brought a handful of earth from Slovenia, the same as his compatriots did in 1934 at the funeral of HRH King Aleksandar Karadjordjević.
Prince Aleksandar’s son, Prince Dušan said the last goodbye to his father above the tomb with the verses of the poet William Johnson, which the late Prince liked very much. In accordance to his wish, Prince Aleksandar found his eternal place on a hill with the view to his beloved Šumadija…
The circle is closed. Our Prince came home …