Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia

Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (Aleksandar Pavlov Karađorđević; 13 August 1924 – 12 May 2016) was the elder son of Prince Paul, who served as Regent of Yugoslavia in the 1930s, and his wife, Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark.

Biography

Alexander was born at White Lodge, Richmond Park, United Kingdom, and was approximately 1374th in the Line of succession to the British throne. As a nephew of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (née of Greece and Denmark), he was a first cousin of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince Michael of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy; he was also a first cousin once removed of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

On 12 February 1955, Alexander married Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, daughter of King Umberto II of Italy and of his wife, Princess Marie-José of Belgium. The marriage took place at Cascais in Portugal where the bride's father was living in exile. The couple had met on 22 August 1954 during the royal cruise of the Agamemnon, hosted by King Paul and Queen Frederika of the Hellenes.

Alexander and Maria Pia have twin sons born in 1958, a second pair of twins being born during the marriage five years later:

• Prince Dimitri Umberto Anton Peter Maria of Yugoslavia (b. 1958)
• Prince Michael Nicolas Paul George Maria of Yugoslavia (b. 1958)
• Prince Sergius Wladimir Emanuel Marie of Yugoslavia (born 12 March 1963)
• Princess Helene Olga Lydia Tamara Maria of Yugoslavia (born 12 March 1963), married Thierry Gaubert (born 14 May 1951 in Paris) on 12 January 1988 and had issue:
  • Milena Maria-Pia Angelique Armaule Gaubert (born 8 July 1988)
  • Nastasia Marie-José Tania Vanessa Isabelle Gaubert (born 22 February 1991)
  • Leopold Umberto Armand Michel Gaubert (born 19 July 1997)

Alexander and Maria Pia divorced in 1967, and in 2003 she married Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, himself divorced from Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel.

On 2 November 1973, Alexander married in a civil ceremony in Paris Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein (b. 9 July 1942), a cousin of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein and also a first cousin of his consort, Princess Marie.They have one son:

• Prince Dušan Paul of Yugoslavia (born 25 September 1977)

Alexander was one of the four founding members of the Serbian Unity Congress. He is patron of the Center for Research of Orthodox Monarchism.

On 17 February 2008, Alexander issued a statement condemning the declaration of independence by Kosovo.

On the occasion of Prince Alexander's 90th birthday on 13 August 2014, a celebration of his life in words and pictures appeared in that month's UK magazine 'Majesty'.

Prince Alexander died on 12 May 2016 in Paris, where he and his wife had lived for many years.