Serbian Royalty

Saturday, September 22

Another tour.  This time it was a short hop over to the far end of town to see the royal palaces – but first a short history lesson…

When King Alexander I of the house of Obrenovic, ruler of the Kingdom of Serbia, was assassinated in a military coupe in 1903 his successor was Peter I of the house of Karadordevic.  Peter was followed by his son Alexander.  King Alexander and his wife had three sons and they all lived together in a palace in the center of town.  When Alexander remarried after his wife’s death, the family decided to purchase some land and build two palaces in what was then a remote part of town.  The Royal Palace was meant to be the primary living quarters for the king and his new wife.  The White Palace was where his three sons would be raised.  These two palaces can be visited only through a State sponsored tour that can only be booked at a Tourist Information Center.

We met the tour near the old palace (now the Town Hall) and took a short bus ride.  The site is in the same part of town as the House of Flowers.  We stopped first at the White Palace and saw all of the downstairs rooms.  The upstairs contains living quarters for five people but we were not permitted to visit them.  The tour has some rigid rules including dress code, no backpacks or luggage of any kind and most of all, no photography.

The main points of interest were the works of art.  King Alexander was a lover of art and literature and was an avid collector.  Most interesting to us were the fine quality family portraits.  Most had been destroyed during the communist period but a few had survived when they were hidden in the attic.  Tito used the White Palace as his primary office until 1975 when the House of Flowers was constructed.  During the communist period this palace was used for public functions and pictures/videos were often seen by the public.

The two palaces are situated in a large park-like grounds with many ancillary buildings.  As we traveled between the two palaces we saw guard houses, a thatched hut, a spa and a pool complex.  No doubt there are other buildings there that we were not able to see.

(The Pool Complex)

The Royal Palace was said to be in the Serbian Byzantine style but seemed to us to resemble an Italian Palazzo.  The entrance way is decorated with copies of medieval works of art and is meant evoke the greatness of the ancient Kingdom of Serbia.  Many of the formal rooms are decorated in different styles.  Most of the rooms were cooled by large windows that had access to private courtyards or the veranda that overlooked the valley below.  These were public rooms and their design was heavily influenced by the king.

(The Royal Dining Room)

The basement was private space.  The designers, who were from Russia, decorated it in Russian style with arched passageways, carved pillars and brightly painted murals.  There was a billiard parlor and the first private movie theater in the country.  During the communist period Tito and his family lived in this palace and his guests, including Queen Elizabeth II and Price Phillip, stayed there.  This palace was never seen by the public.

Since the outbreak of World War II the royal family has been living in exile.  During the communist period they were stripped of their property and possessions and their citizenship was revoked.  In 2001 Serbia invited HRH Crown Price Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine to come back to Serbia and permitted them to live in the royal palace.  They typically spend six months in Belgrade and the rest of their time is split between their homes in other parts of the world where they administer their charitable foundations.  The status of much of their property is being disputed in the court system.

Before we left the palace we learned that HRH Crown Princess Katherine was at home and planned to speak with us.  We all gathered in the Blue Salon where she made a speech about her foundations and the charities that she was associated with.  She implored all of us to help her promote these causes. After her speech we were able to speak with her privately and had a picture taken together.  When she found out that we were from New York she gave us her card, had her secretary take our contact information and promised that we would be invited to the next foundation event in New York City.  She was eloquent and charming and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting her.  If we had known we were going to meet royalty we might have dressed better!

(HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia)

Total cost: $6.50 per person for the tour and $2.00 for the photograph.

Distance walked: 3.9 miles