On Friday 8 February, His Highness Duke Alexander was a guest at the 2013 Viennese Gala Ball at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. The ball is an annual event organised by the American Friends of Austria. Duke Alexander is closely related to the Austrian Imperial Family through his late grandmother Archduchess Ilona of Austria. Through her he is a descendant of the penultimate Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph. Duke Alexander’s great grandfather Duke Georg married as his second wife Archduchess Charlotte of Austria a daughter of Emperor Karl, the final Austrian monarch.
On Sunday 10 February a champagne reception was held in the afternoon to welcome Duke Alexander back to the village of Tinley Park in Illinois. He had previously visited the village during his trip to the United States in the summer of 2011