September 9, 2022 – The rich history of the British royal family can be divided into two stages. The one before Queen Elizabeth II and the one after her enthronement. The ties that she spread all over the world and her own country will be remembered for a long time, so it's no wonder that Britain is mourning her passing. SiB took a moment to remember what binds the queen and her family to Osijek and Slavonia.

As SiB writes, the queen's only visit to the former Yugoslavia was connected to Slavonia, more specifically Đakovo, where the queen visited the famous Lipizzan Stud Farm. The State Stud Farm Đakovo reminisced and expressed its condolences to the royal family for the death of their dear guest, whose visit was written down in considerable letters in the history of the Farm.

Zagreb, 1972. Bozidar Kelemenic / Pixsell

However, what few people know is the royal family's blood connection with Osijek. The distant great-grandfather, of until yesterday Prince Charles, and soon King Charles III, and the great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, was Franz von Teck, who was born and spent part of his life in Osijek.

Charles certainly knew all this when he visited Osijek in March 2016 together with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. They then met with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, and as a gift from Osijek they brought a signed NK Osijek jersey, and Charles became an honorary member of the NK Osijek fan club.

Vlado Kos / Pixsell

After Osijek, they visited Baranja and Đakovo, where only the Duchess went to visit the Stud Farm.

In Baranja, the king also enjoyed the local specialty, fish stew. The royal family remembered their trip at the end of that same year with "the most festive Christmas card ever". They wished a happy Christmas with a photo from Osijek, and on it, in addition to the duchess and then the prince, there were members of HKUD Osijek 1862 in festive costumes.

The ties of the royal family with our region are so very deep, and it is up to Osijek and Slavonia to nurture and deepen them in the future.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 8 Feb 2022 - On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's rule, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts is marking the 50th anniversary of her visit to Zagreb on 20 October 1972, when she said that as a maritime nation, Great Britain had for centuries had strong ties with Croatia and its coast.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, HAZU recalled that Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, and their daughter, Princess Anne, visited Zagreb during her five-day official visit to then Yugoslavia, when she also visited Dubrovnik, Đakovo, Pula and the Brijuni archipelago.

She arrived by train from Đakovo at Zagreb's Central Station where a welcome ceremony was held during which the British, Yugoslav and Croatian anthems were played.

Queen Elizabeth II was then taken in an open-top car to the city centre, where she took a walk and talked to some of the citizens who gathered to see her and who gave her a warm welcome, after which she attended a formal dinner organised at the government building in her honour by her host Jakov Blažević, Parliament Speaker of the then Socialist Republic of Croatia, at the time the highest political official in Croatia.

After the dinner, Queen Elizabeth II visited the HAZU building near Zagreb's Zrinjevac park.

HAZU draws attention to the text of Queen Elizabeth's toast, carried by newspapers at the time, in which she expressed delight at visiting the ancient beautiful city of Zagreb, the centre of Croatia's rich history and culture, and noted that she and her family had also visited Dubrovnik, seeing some of the amazing coastal landscape, as well as Đakovo.

She said that Zagreb's impressive development over the previous 25 years reflected an energetic determination of all its citizens to build a happy and progressive nation. As a maritime nation, Britain has for centuries had closer ties to Croatia and its long coast than with any other part of Yugoslavia. Today new ties are being established and more and more Britons arrive to enjoy the hospitality of your resorts, she said at the time.

The Queen then expressed hope that the British would in return make an equally useful contribution to Croatia's economy, stressing that she and her family were very much impressed by everything they had seen, especially the warm welcome they were given, and wished success and the best of luck to all Croatians.

ZAGREB, 9 April, 2021 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Friday extended his condolences to Queen Elizabeth II, the royal family and British people on the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

"On behalf of the Croatian Government, I express my most heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty The Queen @RoyalFamily and the British people on the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip will be remembered for his lifetime of service to the United Kingdom," Plenković tweeted.

The Queen's husband died in Windsor aged 99, Buckingham Palace said.

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