Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, was the only son of
King Zog I of the Albanians and his queen consort, born
Countess Géraldine Apponyi de Nagyappony died he was 72.. He was called
Crown Prince Skander at birth. Leka was pretender to the
Albanian throne and was referred to as
King Leka I by
Albanian monarchists and some members of the media.
[1]
(also known as King Leka I; 5 April 1939 – 30 November 2011)
Family and early life
King Zog I of the Albanians was forced into exile only two days after the birth of Crown Prince Leka due to the
Italian invasion of Albania. Shortly after, he was 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 in the immediate aftermath of the invasion.
On searching the Palace in Tirana he 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.
[2]
Crown Prince Leka began life in exile in various countries. After travelling across
Europe, the
Royal Family settled in
England, first at the
Ritz Hotel in
London, then moving for a very short period in 1941 to
Sunninghill near
Ascot in
Berkshire, and then in 1941 to Parmoor House,
Parmoor, near
Frieth in
Buckinghamshire.
After the war, Zog, Queen Geraldine and Leka moved temporarily to
Egypt, where they lived at the behest of
King Farouk I.
Through his mother, Leka has some attested distant mediaeval roots in
Albania,
whereas his father's much closer Albanian ancestry cannot be
historically attested, except by oral history as far as the Middle Ages.
The Zogu family were one of the main Principalities that fought beside
the Albanian hero
Skanderbeg against the invading
Turks, and Mamica Kastriot (Skanderbeg's sister) reputedly married into the Toptani family, which King Zog's mother came from.
Leka was educated at Parmoor House, and then at English schools in Egypt and at
Aiglon College,
Villars-sur-Ollon,
Switzerland. Fluent in many languages he also studied economics at the
Sorbonne and passed out of the
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England. Following this he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the
British Army.
[3] He had since made his money with successful business deals in commodities.
Leka became
heir apparent of the abolished throne on 5 April 1957. On the death of King Zog in 1961, Leka was proclaimed
King of the Albanians by a convened Albanian National Assembly-in-Exile, in a
function room at the
Hotel Bristol,
Paris.
[4] He also holds the position of 2nd Sovereign Head of the
Order of Skanderbeg, the
Order of Fidelity and the
Order of Bravery.
[3]
Marriage and 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 friends,
who toasted "Long live the King".
[1]
The couple returned to
Madrid, where they were befriended by
King Juan Carlos and continued to enjoy the attentions of
Albanians while awaiting what they knew must be the fall of Communism. But when it was discovered that Leka not only retained some
Thai bodyguards, but had what was described as an
arms cache in their home, the
Spanish Government asked him to leave. That Leka had some reason for his fears was proved when his plane arrived at
Gabon for refueling, to find it was being surrounded by local troops, who were said to have been hired to capture him by the
Albanian government. He saw them off by appearing at the plane's door with a
bazooka in his hand.
[5] The couple went on to
Rhodesia but, after
Robert Mugabe took power, they settled in a large compound near
Johannesburg where they were given
diplomatic status by the
South African Government.
Leka spent many years exiled in
Bryanston, South Africa, where his son,
Prince Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe, was born. He eventually returned to Albania, settling in
Tirana, Albania, where his wife, Crown Princess Susan, died on 17 July 2004.
Return to Albania
In 1993 he entered Albania for the first time (since being exiled aged a few days old in 1939), doing so under a
passport issued by his own
Royal Court-in-exile. In this passport, which the Albanian government had refused to recognise previously, Leka listed his profession as "King".
[6]
Leka was greeted by a crowd of approximately 500 supporters on his
arrival at the airport. He stated at this time that he would renounce
this passport and accept the status of a normal citizen if a referendum
on the monarchy failed.
[citation needed]
During the
1997 rebellion in Albania, Leka returned again, this time being greeted by 2,000 supporters.
[7] A
referendum was held in Albania concerning a
monarchical restoration. After a recount it was announced that the restoration was rejected by approximately two-thirds of those voting.
[8]
The King questioned the independence of the election. Police
intervened, gunfire broke out, one person was killed, and Leka fled. In
2011, Salih Berisha who was President at the time admitted "By 2003, the
Albanian Parliament passed the law that recognized the attributes of
the Royal Family and it was a right decision. Also I remind you that
even the referendum was held in the context of flames of the communist
rebellion and therefore cannot be considered a closed matter. The
Stalinist principle of: ‘you vote, but I count the votes’ was applied in
that referendum. But, the fact of the matter is the Albanians voted
massively for their King, but the referendum failed to meet quotas as it
was manipulated."
[9]
When asked if he intended to leave Albania he replied: "Why? It is my
country." After leaving Albania of his own accord he was tried and
sentenced to three years imprisonment for
sedition, in absentia; this conviction was pardoned in March 2002, when 72 members of Parliament asked the royal family to return.
[1][10]
Leka was backed by the
Party of Right and Legality (PLL). PLL is an extreme-right monarchist party and a marginal factor in Albanian politics.
[11] It formed a
coalition with other parties in Albania. Leka, however, did not vote, stating that
| “ |
I am above all political parties, even my own.[12] |
” |
Leka was head of the Movement for National Development.
[13]
He argued that he was a fighter for a Greater Albania in terms of
ethnicity and that his restoration as king would make possible this
goal.
[11] However, in February 2006, he announced he would be withdrawing from political and public life.
[13]
Death
He died on 30 November 2011 in
Mother Teresa Hospital, Tirana.
[14] He was buried next to his wife’s and mother’s grave at the public Sharra cemetery in a Tirana suburb.
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