Photo: Bosko Karanovic
His Royal Highness Prince Stefan, the son of Their Royal Highnesses Prince Philip and Princess Danica, was born in Belgrade, Serbia on 25 February 2018.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, the bells of Belgrade’s St. Sava Temple tolled heralding the birth of the newborn member of the Serbian Royal Family. That was the first time that the 49 bells of the biggest orthodox temple in the Balkans announced such a birth. The bells of St. George church in Oplenac and Zica monastery tolled heralding the birth, too. This birth of a male child was the first one in the Royal Family in Serbia after 90 years when HRH Prince Tomislav was born in Belgrade, who was the brother of HM King Peter II, the grandfather of HRH Prince Philip.
His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia christened young Prince Stefan at the Royal Chapel of St. Andrew the First-Called in the Royal Compound in Dedinje, Belgrade, Serbia on 15 December 2018. Prince Stefan’s godparents are HRH Prince Alexander (twin brother of HRH Prince Philip), Mrs. Petra Lazarevic and Mr. Dusan Antunovic, long standing family friends of the Royal Couple Prince Philip and Princess Danica. Joining the Patriarch in officiating the christening was His Grace Bishop Lavrentije of Sabac who married TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine in 1985, and also christened Princes Philip and Alexander.
Prince Stefan wore the Christening gown that His Majesty King Peter II wore on the day of his christening officiated by His Holiness Patriarch Dimitrije of Serbia in 1923 in Belgrade, and his godfather was King George V.