| Jelisaveta Karađorđević Јелисавета Карађорђевић |
|
|---|---|
| Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia | |
| Spouse | Howard Oxenberg (1960 - 1966; divorced) Neil Balfour (1969 - 1978; divorced) Manuel Ulloa Elias (1987 - 1992; died) |
| Issue | |
| Catherine Oxenberg Christina Oxenberg Nicholas Augustus Balfour |
|
| Full name | |
| English: Elizabeth Karageorgevich Serbian: Јелисавета Карађорђевић |
|
| House | House of Karageorgevich |
| Father | Prince Paul of Yugoslavia |
| Mother | Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark |
| Born | 7 April 1936 Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Religion | Serbian Orthodox |
Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia (Serbian Cyrillic: Кнегиња Јелисавета Карађорђевић) (born 7 April 1936) is Serbian and Yugoslav Princess, a member of the House of Karageorgevich, a human rights activist and a former candidate for President of Serbia. She is also known as Jelisaveta Karadjordjevic.
Contents |
She was born in Belgrade as the only daughter of Prince Pavle of Yugoslavia (prince regent of Yugoslavia 1934-1941) and Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark. Her older brother is Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, who married, firstly, Princess María Pia of Savoy and, secondly, Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein. She is a second cousin of Queen Sofía of Spain and Charles, Prince of Wales. She is also a first cousin of the present Duke of Kent and his siblings, Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Karađorđe, who started the first Serbian uprising against the Turks in 1804.
A businesswoman and writer, she the author of four storybooks for children[1] and she has created two perfumes- "Jelisaveta" and "E".[2]
|
HRH The Crown Prince* Extended royal family
* Member of the the Royal House
|
Princess Elizabeth married on 21 January 1961 in a civil ceremony in Manassas, Virginia to Howard Oxenberg (1919–2010), an American clothing manufacturer, by whom she is mother of actress Catherine Oxenberg and sweater designer Christina Oxenberg. They divorced in 1966. She married, secondly, banker Neil Balfour (born 1944) on 23 September 1969 in London; they had one son, Nicholas Augustus Balfour. That marriage also ended in divorce. She married, thirdly, Dr. Manuel Ulloa Elias[3] (1922–1992), the former Prime Minister of Peru as well the country's Minister of Economy, Finance, and Commerce, on 28 February 1987 in New York City. Between her second and third marriages, she was reportedly engaged to Welsh actor Richard Burton.[4]
Her education started in Kenya, then in Great Britain and Switzerland, finally she studied the history of fine art in Paris. She speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Serbian and is a citizen of the United Kingdom, United States and Serbia. She lives in Belgrade, where she has caused some friction within her family by demanding to set up residence in the White Palace, her childhood home, but not hers, and for running for public office.
The property status of The Royal Palace and The White Palace in Belgrade, Dedinje and Royal Compound following the death of His Majesty King Alexander I during the Regency administration of HRH Prince Paul, Dr. Radenko Stankovic and Dr. Ivo Perovic, the City of Belgrade District Court, competent for the inheritance of the deceased King Alexander I, issued on the 27 October 1938 Decree No. 0.428/34, determining the outcome of the real estate and movable property of King Alexander I, which is specified in more detail in the above mentioned Decree of the District Court for the City of Belgrade.
The Decree lists in clauses 1 to 7 all the real estate at Dedinje stating the parcel numbers from the Real Estate Register, including the Palace (Old Palace) with surrounding terrain, yard and forest, as well as the building "Beli Dvor (White Palace)" with the appertaining houses. The aforementioned Decree of the City of the Belgrade District Court pronounced as the heirs of the entire private real estate and movable property of the deceased King Alexander I the Unifier, his underage sons: HM King Peter II, HRH Prince Tomislav and HRH Prince Andrew, in equal parts. This Decree became official law on the 4 March 1939.
All properties of The Royal Family were confiscated on the basis of the Edict of the Presidency Presidium of the People's Assembly of the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia Pov. No. 1433 of 2 August 1947 which, in clause 6, under paragraph a., states that the "Palaces Dedinje and Beli Dvor" - "are registered in Real Estate Municipality Belgrade 7 in the names of Peter, Tomislav and Andrej Karadjordjevic, real estate excerpt 82, 86 and 89 on 9 parcels".
The aforementioned Decree was abolished in 2001 by the Law on the Abolishment of the Edict of Confiscation of Citizenship and Property from the Karadjordjevic Family. This law determined that the conditions for the return of the confiscated property would be regulated by a special law. The above status remains unchanged up to the present.
Princess Elizabeth recognized early the dangerous signs that would turn the former Yugoslavia upside down in a bloodbath of historic religious and ethnic rivalries long suppressed by Communist rule. She spoke out in Europe and America on behalf of bridging the gap between ethnic hatreds. Working behind the scenes through United Nations programs, she also journeyed to the Vatican in 1989 to ask Monsignor Taurant, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to help improve relations between Catholic and Orthodox communities in Yugoslavia.[5]
At the end of 1990 she created the Princess Elizabeth Foundation, a non-political, not-for-profit organization after foreseeing the crucial importance of a vehicle to address the tension brewing just below the surface. Since the subsequent civil wars, her efforts have focused heavily on transporting medical supplies, food, clothing and blankets to refugee camps, in addition to finding homes for children victimized by war and placing older students in schools and colleges in America.[6]
Before the breakup of Yugoslavia began in 1991, she invited the Orthodox Bishop Sava and the Mufti of Belgrade, along with the Yugoslav Minister for Religious Affairs to attend a conference in Moscow that was hosted by Mikhail Gorbachev. This was the second international gathering of political and religious leaders committed to world reform that included Mother Teresa, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Dalai Lama, Al Gore and Carl Sagan.[7]
| “ | I do not understand how people can feel superior to those of another faith or race. Such intolerance is deeply rooted in fear, which helps to perpetuate injustice and hatred. This deep programming prevents people from honouring and celebrating life's differences | ” |
She decided to run for President of Serbia in the Serbian presidential elections, 2004, despite her cousin Alexander's objections stating that the Royal Family should stay out of politics. After the end of World War II, the Royal Family was banished from the country, and their goods confiscated. "In case of victory", she stated, "my priority would not be to return to a monarchy, but to form a real State." She got 63,991 votes or 2.1% finishing in 6th place.[8]
In 2002 Princess Elizabeth received the first Nuclear Disarmament Forum Award, the Demiurgus Peace International, (accompanying president Vladimir Putin, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ted Turner and others) for outstanding achievements in the field of strengthening peace among nations in Zug, Switzerland.
| Styles of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
HRH Princess Jelisaveta was granted heraldic arms in June 2008.[9] Her motto translates into English as Service Is Love In Action.