Albania

[PeDe]

Albanian crown prince Leka dies aged 72

Albania's pretender to the throne, crown prince Leka Zogu, the son of self-proclaimed king Zog I, died Wednesday in a Tirana hospital aged 72, a spokeswoman for the royal family told AFP.

He was admitted to hospital last week in a very serious condition with heart and lung trouble and fell into a coma shortly after, doctor Mentor Petrela said.

Albania declared a day of mourning on Saturday, the day of the funeral, which will have all the "royal attributes", Prime Minister Sali Berisha said at the government session on Wednesday.

Leka was only a few days old when his father, king Zog I was forced to leave after Italy invaded Albania in 1939.

He returned for the first time in 1993 after the fall of communism but was not allowed to stay by the authorities.

He finally came back with his family to settle in Albania in 2002 after 63 years in exile.

Born in Tirana on April 5, 1939, Leka had been pretender to the Albanian throne since the death of his father in exile in France in 1961.

He was crowned king Leka I by the Albanian community in exile at the Bristol hotel in Paris on April 15, 1961.

He visited Albania for a second time in June 1997 when authorities organised a referendum to decide the future form of government for Albania. After the vote, where the monarchy option did not officially win a majority, Leka called a rally to pressure the electoral committee accused of falsifying the results.

He appeared at the rally in military uniform, wielding a pair of guns and two hand grenades. The protest turned violent and two people were killed. He again left the country only returning definitively in 2002 after striking a deal with parliament.

Leka is survived by his son, also named Leka, who works as a counsellor at the Albanian foreign ministry.



King Leka Zogu I with his Australian wife Susan Cullen-Ward







And now HRH CROWN PRINCE LEKA II ZOGU is appointed the head of the house of Albania

[PeDe]

Hundreds attend Albanian crown prince Leka's funeral


Several hundred people attended the funeral Saturday of the pretender to the Albanian throne, crown prince Leka Zogu, after tributes from the republic's top leadership.

Leka, the son of self-proclaimed king Zog I, died Wednesday in a Tirana hospital aged 72, after being admitted with heart and lung trouble.

[PeDe]

I don't know much, or anything about the deposed house of Albania, so add if you have some info




Leka, Crown Prince of Albania (Leka I Zogu), (born April 5, 1939, the Royal Palace, Tirana) is the only son of King Zog I and Queen Geraldine. He was christened Crown Prince Skander at birth. He is the pretender to the Albanian throne. He is known, and is often referred to by many people including monarchists and members of the media, as King Leka I. King Zog I was forced into exile only two days after the birth of Leka and soon officially replaced on the throne of Albania by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy — an action the King of Italy would later plead personal forgiveness for. Count Ciano, the Italian Foreign Minister, arrived soon after the invasion; on searching the Palace in Tirana found the ‘labour room’ in the Queen’s suite; seeing a pile of linen on the floor, stained by the afterbirth, he kicked it across the room. “The cub has escaped!” he said.

Leka was educated at English schools in Egypt and at Aiglon College, Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. Fluent in seven languages he also studied economics at Sorbonne and passed out of Sandhurst Military Academy in England. Following this he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the British Army. He has since reinforced the family fortune with successful business deals in commodities. Leka became heir apparent of the abolished throne on April 5, 1957. At the death of King Zog I in 1961, Leka was proclaimed King of the Albanians by the Albanian National Assembly-in-Exile. In 1975, Leka married Australian citizen and former teacher Susan Cullen-Ward in Biarritz. They were married in a civil ceremony in the Hôtel de Ville, Biarritz. The wedding reception, at a five-star Toledo Roadhouse, was attended by members of other exiled royal families, loyal Albanians and Spanish friends, who toasted “Long live the King”.


The 'royal' website: http://www.albanianroyalcourt.al/pages/welcome


Zog was born Ahmet Muhtar (Ahmad Mukhtar) Bej Zogolli in Burgajet Castle, near the town of Burrel in the Ottoman Empire, second son to Xhemal Pasha Zogolli, and first son by his second wife Sadijé Toptani in 1895. His family was a beylik family of landowners, with feudal authority over the region of Mati. His mother's Toptani family claimed to be descended from the sister of Albania's greatest national hero, the 15th-century general Skanderbeg.

Zogolli was educated at Lycée Impérial de Galatasaray in Constantinople, then the seat of the decaying Ottoman Empire, which controlled Albania. Upon his father's death in about 1908, Zogolli became governor of Mat. He was appointed over his elder brother Xhelal Bey Zuqolli. In 1912, he signed the Albanian Declaration of Independence as the representative of the Mat District.

As a young man during the First World War, Zogolli volunteered on the side of Austria-Hungary. He was detained at Vienna in 1917 and 1918 and in Rome in 1918 and 1919 before returning to Albania in 1919. During his time in Vienna, he grew to enjoy a Western European lifestyle and was rumoured to be very popular among the Viennese women.

Upon his return, Zuqolli became involved in the political life of the fledgling Albanian government that had been created in the wake of the First World War. His political supporters included many southern feudal landowners (called beys, Turkish for "province chieftain", the social group to which he belonged) and noble families in the north, along with merchants, industrialists, and intellectuals. During the early 1920s, Zog served as Governor of Shkodër (1920–1921), Minister of the Interior (March–November 1920, 1921–1924), and chief of the Albanian military (1921–1922). His primary rivals were Luigj Gurakuqi and Fan S. Noli.

In 1922, Zogolli formally changed his surname from the turkified Zuqolli to Zogu, which in the Albanian language means "bird".

It was a dangerous time to be an Albanian politician. In 1923, Zogu was shot and wounded in Parliament. A crisis arose in 1924 after the assassination of one of Zogu's industrialist opponents, Avni Rustemi; in the aftermath, a leftist revolt forced Zogu, along with 600 of his allies, into exile in June 1924. He returned to Albania with the backing of Yugoslav forces and Yugoslavia-based White Russian troops and became Prime Minister.



The Albanian royal family in exile: King Zog (1895-1961), Queen Geraldine (1915-2002) and Crown Prince Leka (1939-2011)



King Zog, Queen Geraldine and their only child, Crown Prince Leka



Crown Prince Leka and Queen Geraldine of Albania in exile



Crown Prince Leka with his half-American, half-Hungarian mother, Queen Geraldine

http://juliapgelardi.word...albania-at-the-age-of-72/

[PeDe]

Father: Ahmet Zogu



11th Prime Minister of Albania

Term    
26 December 1922 – 25 February 1924

Predecessor    
Xhafer Bej Ypi

Successor    
Shefqet Vërlaci
President of Albanian Republic and 16th Prime Minister of Albania

Term    
1 February 1925 as President, 6 January 1925 as PM – 1 September 1928

Predecessor    
New Post, Iliaz Bej Vrioni

Successor    
Monarchy established, Koço Kota

Marshal of Royal Albanian Army
Term    1 February 1925  – 1 September 1939

Predecessor New Post
King of the Albanians

Reign    
1 September 1928  – 7 April 1939

Predecessor    
Monarchy established

Successor
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Consort    
Géraldine Apponyi de Nagyappony

Issue
Leka, Crown Prince of Albania

Full name
Ahmet Muhtar Zogolli

House    House of Zogu
Father    Xhemal Pasha Zogolli
Mother    Sadijé Toptani

Born      8 October 1895
Burgajet Castle, Ottoman Empire

Died      9 April 1961 (aged 65)
Suresnes, Paris, France
Burial    Cemetery of Thiais, Paris, France


 


Ahmet Zogu with his mother and his sisters


Ahmet Zogu and his wife Geraldine

[PeDe]

Mother: Géraldine Apponyi de Nagyappony

Queen Géraldine or Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagyappony (August 6, 1915 – October 22, 2002) was the Queen Consort of King Zog I, of the Zogu dynasty of Albania. From the time of her marriage she was known as Queen Geraldine of the Albanian.

Geraldine was born in Budapest, Hungary, a daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagyappony (1873–1924). Her mother was Gladys Virginia Stewart (1891–1947), an American, daughter of millionaire John Henry Stewart from Virginia, a diplomat who served as American Consul in Antwerp, Belgium, and his wife Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding. Through her mother, Geraldine was distantly related to Richard Nixon and poet Robert Frost, with common ancestors in the beginning of the 17th century.

When the Empire of Austria-Hungary collapsed, the Apponyi family went to live in Switzerland. In 1921 they returned to the Kingdom of Hungary which was stable under Regent Miklós Horthy.

However, when Geraldine's father died, her mother and their three children (Geraldine, Virginia, and Gyula) went to live in the resort of Menton in the south of France. When the Countess married a French officer, her Hungarian in-laws insisted that the children be returned to Hungary for their schooling. The girls were sent to the Sacred Heart boarding school in Pressbaum, near Vienna.

Her family's fortune spent, Geraldine earned a living as a shorthand typist. She also worked in the gift shop of the Budapest National Museum, where her uncle was the director.

Geraldine was introduced to King Zog I in December 1937, after his sister had approached Geraldine on behalf of the monarch. The King had seen the young Hungarian woman's photograph. She went to Albania and within days the couple were engaged to be married. Known as the "White Rose of Hungary", Geraldine was raised to royal status as Princess Geraldine of Albania prior to her wedding.


she was a beauty, wasn't she!

[Miss Waynfleet]

The Queen was a beauty

[PeDe]

ITA, Miss Waynfleet


 

[PeDe]

The successor HRH CROWN PRINCE LEKA II ZOGU is appointed the head of the house of Albania






and is engaged to Miss Elia Zaharia



The Royal Court of Albania announced the engagement of Prince Leka of the Albanians and Miss Elia Zaharia. The engaged couple will meet the press on June 16 to 18 hours at the Hotel Lutetia in Paris. Prince Leka is the only son of King Leka and the late Queen Susan of Albania, grand-son of King Zog and Queen Geraldine. Born in 1982 in South Africa where he grew up, the prince who is multilingual, currently working for the Albanian government. (Thanks to Philippe Delorme) http://www.noblesseetroya...prince-leka-des-albanais/


The official announcement

The official statement:

"Paris, France, May 10, 2010
The Royal Court of Albania
  is pleased to announce the engagement of
HRH Prince Leka II of the Albanians
and Miss Elia Zaharia.
On the occasion of the cocktail to be held at the Hotel Lutetia (45, boulevard Raspail,
75006 Paris), June 16, 2010, from 18:00 to 20:00,
  The press are invited to a photo shoot / interview.
Skender Zog
Spokesman for the Royal Family
COs. Hyll Spahija
A.D.C of His Majesty King Leka I of the Albanians
Dr. Patrice NAJBOR
Advisor to the Office of Paris "

http://royautes.centerblo...ince-leka-et-elia-zaharia


  

 

[PeDe]

she's on their official website: http://www.albanianroyalcourt.al/pages/eliaZaharia

 


Born: 8 February 1983 Tirana, Albania
Elia is the daughter of George Zaharia and Yllka Muji. Her father originates from Kosova of Permeti, a region of Southern Albania. Whilst the Muji family come from Podgorica, Montenegro, latter moving to Albania’s northern City of Shkoder during the Monarchist period. George Zaharia has 35 years educational experience, while Yllka was given the title of “Maestro of Arts” in recognition of her career in the National theatre. Elia has one Brother, Amos Muji- Zaharia who is a film director.


Education
2007-2010: St. Denis University, Paris 8 (theatre)
2005-2007: Cours Florent (Private acting)
2003-2005: National Conservatory of Bordeaux (art drama)
1998-2002: Arts Lyceum Jordan Misja (Art, Scenography)


Theater
Elia in also teaching theatre to students in the Marubi University in the fine arts of acting, whilst working on plans to build a Royal theatre, which will be designed to support young actors.
2007: Asservies, by Suy GLOVER (www.asservies.com)
2007: Lady M, produced by Laurie Jesson (www.ladym.fr)
2010: Sacrées mousquetaires, produced by Laurie Jesson (www.sacreesmousquetaires.fr)


Cinema
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Elia is very interested in the film industry, taking part in a number of short script films in France, whilst supporting her brothers projects in Albanian. Her major film projects are listed below:
2008: « Honeymoons » by Goran Paskaljevic
2005: main role in « Solitaire » by Bahram GUERANFAR
2002: main role in « Lule te kuqe, lule te zeza » by Melvan Shanaj. www.zigzagfilm.com (won first prize in the 2004 “independent” film festival in New York


Music
From a young age Elia has shown vocal talent for light Albanian Music. From 1999 until 2002 Elia took part in a successful girls group called “Spirit Voice”, giving her the opportunity to take part in concerts throughout the Albanian region, including war torn Kosova, where the group was very active in supporting the humanitarian aid activities.
Spirit Voice was recognised with a number of prestigious National festival awards and remained the best group until Elia left to France to continue her studies. In 2008 Elia returned to the hit boards as a solo artist with the song “October 31”, where she won best female artist video-feste Pristine, Kosova.


Languages
Albanian, French, English, Italian


Hobbies
Art, Music, Theatre, Reading and Swimming

[Miss Waynfleet]

Wedding photos

http://www.shekulli.com.a...ent/uploads/2011/07/5.jpg
http://www.shekulli.com.a...ent/uploads/2011/07/6.jpg



The Queen with her sisters-in-law



King Zog I.



Leka Zogu as child



The King and his sisters



 



Geraldine with Leka

[Miss Waynfleet]

Susan, Crown Princess of Albania, died in 2004



The Kings sisters

[PeDe]

 The castle

 



The Albanian Crown Jewels


"The Helmet of Skanderberg - Used as Crown of Albania is dating from the 15th century now kept in Vienna

Albania
Crown of Skanderbeg dating from the 15th century now kept in Vienna - The crown of Skanderbeg, believed to have been created for the medieval king in the 15th century, was smuggled out of Albania by members of the Kastrioti family following the occupation of Albania by the Ottoman Empire. The crown eventually found its way into the collections of the Habsburg dynasty (via an Italian noble family) and currently resides in the Schatzkammer in Vienna, Austria. In 1931, King Zog of Albania made a rare foreign tour and visited Vienna in an unsuccessful attempt to repatriate the crown, presumably for a future coronation (he considered giving himself the regnal name "Skanderbeg III"). Several replicas exist in Albania, most notably at Kruja Castle.


Royal Tiara's









Royal Albanian Orders


Orders of chivalry of the Crown of Albania - Established under the republican regime by Ahmet Zogu, head of State, the Albanian chivalric orders were adopted as dynastic and merit awards by the House of Zogu since the proclamation of the monarchy in September 1928. The King of Albanians, head of the House of Zog, is automatically chief and sovereign grand master of these Orders.


ORDER OF THE FIDELITY - Awarded for extraordinary achievements in every field and especially for eminent services rendered to the State, the Sovereign and the Royal family. Three classes : knight, officer, knight commander ; two dignities : grand-officer, grand-sash with star.


ORDER OF SKANDERBEG - Most senior of the Albanian orders created by Ahmet Zogu, head of State, the Order of Skanderbeg is awarded for distinguished services rendered to the Crown and achievements in every field of the society. Three classes : knight, officer, knight commander ; two digntities : grand-officer, grand-sash with star.


MILITARY ORDER OF BRAVERY - The highest military merit award, accorded to officers and members of the armed forces that show extraordinary bravery deeds during war time. Consists in three ranks : Brave (Trim), Martyr (Theror), Hero (Hero). Includes also a medal for the non-commissioned officers in two classes (silver, gold). The numerus clausus were fixed for 5 (Hero), 12 (Martyr), 40 (Brave) ; 100 (gold medal), 200 (silver).

[PeDe]

Interesting side-line of the Albanian Royal family: The Wied Family

Fürstin Marie of Wied was born on July 5th 1841 at "De Pauw" in Wassenaar. Quite a modest person, impregnated that duty always came first,she grew up lonely. Both her brothers Willem and Frederik had died young and her only sister Louise married the Crown Prince of Norway and Sweden in 1850, Marie was 9.

Her mother was the dominating(and quite impossible) Louise of Prussia, so Marie's younger years were unhappy most of the time. It proved almost impossible to find a suitor for her as she wasn't exactly blessed with good looks,but also developed a hearing disability since childhood, she was nearly deaf.

In 1869 Fürst Wilhelm of Wied wished to marry her, and dispite protests from Berlin(a Prince without any land marrying the offspring of the Prussians. Nonetheless King Willem III approved of the marriage and Marie's engagement was announced in the same year. The wedding, however,had to be postponed twice,first because of the French-German war, and then because both Marie's mother and sister Louise, Queen of Sweden, died within a short period of time.

The wedding finally took place at "De Pauw"on july 18th 1871.

The couple lived at Neuwied Palace and was blessed with 3 sons and 2 daughters.Marie's sister in law was the legendary Carmen Sylva, sister of Wilhelm married to King Carol I,Marie's mother in law,was another eccentric, néé Princess of Nassau. Missy(the notorious blabbermouth) wrote about the quite bizar Wied family in which the prozaic Princess Marie stood out, she greatly admired Marie and described her as;"a tres grande dame, completely without any form of eccentricity".

Marie and her family often visited Prince Frederik at "De Pauw"or stayed with her favorite aunt, Queen Sophie,at Huis ten Bosch Palace. The difficulties within the dutch RF (the unhappy marriage of Sophie and Willem III,ao) affected Marie deeply, and she and her husband represented the RF on many occasions in The Netherlands, and remained wellknown and respected figures here.

The bond between the dutch RF and the Wieds became even stronger from the time Queen Emma married Willem III. Marie's mother in law was a sister of Emma's mother, they not only shared the same family background but also the same views in general. After grandduchess Sophie's death, Emma had a strong supporter in Marie, with whom she "talked about everything".

In the days of the engagement of Queen Wilhelmina with Hendrik ,Emma wrote Marie how relieved she was her daughter was to marry and how she beamed with happiness. Marie must have frowned upon the news, as her own son, Wilhelm,was since long seen as a possible suitor for the young Queen. But, that was blocked by Emma. "Family ties were too close, and besides, A Wied wasn't good enough for a Queen". (The joy with which matchmaker Emma wrote her niece was totally misplaced as history would learn,soon). Wilhelm eventually married (1906) Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg. Emma had more "whiffs"of Hoheitsfieber (a german expression, could be translated in superiority complex, to put it mildly) as she, Emma,also strongly disapproved of the marriage of Marie's son with Pauline of Württemberg, daughter of Emma's sister, as a Princess of the blood Royal was no match to the "simple" Wieds. This remark caused the Fürst of Wied to travel home highly irritated,right away after the Inthronisation ceremony of Queen Wilhelmina in 1898. Nonetheless, Queen's Emma and Wilhelmina attended the baptism of the couples firstborn at Potsdam,as Wilhelmina was the childs godmother.

So,we have that bond between Marie and Emma,w ith Marie always remaining her kind self, and Emma,allthough seemingly friendly, was the umptiest country girl from germany that forgot where she'd come from.S eemingly friendly, but exceptionally formal, the latter was forgiven for the first,and Marie must have thought the same, and remained on friendly terms. Being Her Majesty in public was justified, but to remain as distant in private towards family members, shows how Emma was clinging on to her status, at all times, unable to lay down her Royal mask and to give herself openly. Not wishing to sound too harsh on Emma, it must have been extremely difficult to be in her position at a time women had to really "fight" to be taken seriously, and to have all the responsibility she was bestowed with. But she did revel in it at times, and wasn't quite the distant aloof saintly lady at all times we dutch in general, think she was.

As the marriage of the young Wilhelmina remained childless for such a long time, (stillborn son and several miscarriages) Marie's son Fritz came in the spotlights, this time as a possible heir to the dutch Throne. (When Wilhelmina was ill with typhoid fever in 1902,the Prince had travelled to The Netherlands "to be at hand", just in case), furthermore Fritz's father in law, the King of Württemberg, had visited the Dutch Court at the time, and that only fuelled to the matter of Fritz's possibly becoming heir. That, however was highly frowned upon here, and deemed very undesirable, and it was with immens joy, and a sigh of relief, that dear Juliana was welcomed in 1909.
 



Princess Sophie von Wied Fürstin of Albania


Wilhelm,was bestowed with the (questionable..)honour of becoming Reigning Prince of Albania.Then as now still,a troublesome godforlorn piece of rocks and pebbles in the Balkan,then as now,no charm whatshowever,not from a landscape point of view,nor it's population,now and then,one of Europes poorhouses.Not to mention the backwardness.How on earth the position appealed to Wilhelm is lost on me,but others might clear that up.



Wilhelm I of Albania with his daughter,Princess Marie Eleonore



Present-day Wied's



Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm and Fürstin Sophie Charlotte with daughter Princess Christina



Prince Ulrich and Princess Ilke with son Prince Wilhelm zu Wied



The Württembergs and zu Wieds(including the late Madame la Comtesse de Paris)

[tgb]

Geraldine was gorgeous! Love the clothes of that era, so impossibly glam.

[Tulip of Nonsense]

Thanks a lot for a very informative interesting thread PeDe and Miss W! 
The Queen is not only a breathtaking beauty; she radiates such an exceptional happiness, warmth and kindness that could purify the whole world!

Dear PeDe, with your energy, dedication, competence and language skills, would you even think of starting a thread about Serbian royals?  I follow them on some French royal blogs and for what I can make out they seem to be a decent folk?