In May 1837, the sound of twelve cannons fired from Kalemegdan fortress marked the arrival to the Principality of Serbia, of the first diplomatic representative of the United Kingdom, Colonel George Lloyd Hodges, who presented his credentials to Prince Miloš Obrenović. This act formally launched 180 years of history of relations between the two countries. Many famous Serbs have lived and served in the UK: Serbian educator Dositej Obradović; Dr. Pavle Popović, writer, historian and professor at the University of Belgrade; lawyer, historian, writer and politician, Slobodan Jovanović, and writer Borislav Pekić. The British have also left their mark on Serbia: Francis MacKenzie in 1879 donated land to Serbian Orthodox Church for St. Sava Temple; Adelina Paulina Irby, Miss Irby, during the Herzegovina uprising 1874/5 and Serbian-Turkish wars 1876-1878 took care of children and refugees; Admiral Ernest Troubridge participated in the defence of Belgrade in 1915; doctor Elizabeth Ross in 1915 came to Serbia with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, to help those sick with typhus. The Serbian Support Fund during the Great War, under the patronage of HM Queen Mary, cared for and educated Serbian children – orphans and refugees in the UK. At the end of the 20th century, director Timothy John Byford, left his mark on children’s television production in Serbia with his programmes Neven, Grandma’s grandchild and Poletarac. The enduring and complex nature of our relationship and the fact that we now stand together as allies in the face of some tough global challenges, is a testament to the strength and intensity of our friendship through the passing of time. The British – Serbian partnership is now reaching a new phase. We are working together in new areas and across borders, to make sure our relations go from strength to strength. Here’s to another 180 years!
(For creation of a text for FDC the monograph „170 years of the British-Serbian (Yugoslav) relationships”, by Dr. Čedomir Antić and Dr. Slobodan G. Marković was used)
Motif on the stamp: Portraits of Prince Miloš Obrenović (Military Museum, Belgrade) and Sir George Lloyd Hodges with Serbian and British newspapers.
Motif on the vignette: Serbia today, an article from the South Slav Journal, 1912, London; heads list of the Illustrated London Gazette, 1876.
Motif on the envelope:Britannia Pacificatrix, mural by Sigismund Goetze (Foreign and Commonwealth Office building); memorial plaque of Dositej Obradović and Miloš Crnjanski in London.
