Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg
| Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg | |
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| Princess of Albania | |
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| Reign | 7 March 1914 – 3 September 1914 |
| Spouse | William, Prince of Albania |
| Issue | |
| Princess Marie Eleonore Hereditary Prince Carol Victor |
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| House | House of Schönburg-Waldenburg House of Wied-Neuwied |
| Father | Hereditary Prince Victor of Schönburg-Waldenburg |
| Mother | Princess Lucia of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg |
| Born | May 21, 1885 Potsdam, Brandenburg, German Empire |
| Died | February 3, 1936 (aged 50) Fântânele, Romania |
Princess Sophie Helene Cecilie of Schönburg-Waldenburg (21 May 1885 - 3 February 1936) was the wife of Prince William of Wied. With her husband's ascension to the Albanian throne she became the Princess of Albania (Albanian: Princeshë e Shqipërisë).
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[edit] Family and marriage
Princess Sophie was born in Potsdam, Brandenburg the daughter of Hereditary Prince Victor of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1856–1888) and his wife Princess Lucia of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1859–1903). She had some distant Albanian ancestry, being a descendant of Ruxandra Ghica, daughter of Grigore I Ghica.[1]
Her maternal grandparents were Emil, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1824–1878) and his first wife Pulcheria Cantacuzene (1820–1865), a Romanian princess. Emil was the son of August Ludwig of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1788–1874) and Franziska Allesina von Schweitzer (1802–1878).
August Ludwig was the eighth of ten sons born to Christian Heinrich, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1753–1800) and his wife Charlotte Friederike Franziska, Countess of Leiningen-Westerburg. Christian Heinrich was the penultimate ruler of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg as a state of the Holy Roman Empire. He reigned as a Count from 1773 to 1792 and as a Prince from 1792 to his death. Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was mediatised to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1806.
Both of Princess Sophie's parents died when she was young so she spent much of her youth at the Fantanele estate in Moldavia which was owned by her maternal relatives.[2]
On 30 November 1906 at Waldenburg, Saxony Princess Sophie married Prince William of Wied, they had two children.[3]
- Princess Marie Eleonore (1909–1956)
- Hereditary Prince Carol Victor (1913–1973)
[edit] Princess of Albania
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Princess Sophie was close to her husband's aunt Queen Elisabeth of Romania, whom she had known since moving to Romania after the death of her parents. Princess Sophie and Queen Elisabeth sang, painted, composed and played musical instruments together.[4] Queen Elisabeth played an important role in getting Princess Sophie's husband William the Albanian throne by asking Take Ionescu to persuade the great powers to select William.[5] Princess Sophie and Queen Elisabeth both worked to overcome William's reluctance to accept the throne.[2]
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Eventually William agreed, and on February 21, 1914, Prince William and Princess Sophie hosted a delegation of Albanian notables at their castle in Neuwied, where William was formally offered the throne. The Albanian delegation then visited Waldenburg, Saxony, where they paid their respects to Princess Sophie's family.[2]
Sophie and her husband arrived in Albania on March 7, 1914, in Durrës, the provisional capital. However, her Albanian adventure proved short-lived. On September 3, 1914, with the country in turmoil, Princess Sophie and Prince William left Albania, never to return.[6] However, she officially remained the Princess of Albania until January 31, 1925, when the country was declared a republic.
Princess Sophie died at Fântânele, Romania.[5]
[edit] Ancestry
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[edit] References
- ^ http://www.ghika.net/Histoire/Question_Orient.pdf The Ghica family was a Greek Orthodox Phanariote dynasty of Albanian origin
- ^ a b c Heaton-Armstrong, Duncan (2005). The Six Month Kingdom: Albania 1914. I.B.Tauris. pp. xii, 14. ISBN 1850437610.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Edinburgh, Marie of (1971). The story of my life. Ayer Publishing. pp. 541, 542. ISBN 0405027613.
- ^ a b Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in the Twentieth Century: a history. I.B.Tauris. pp. 50, 377. ISBN 1845110137.
- ^ Hall, Richard C. (2000). The Balkan Wars, 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War. Routledge. pp. 131. ISBN 0415229464.
[edit] External links
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1913
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1913
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Prince Wilhelm of Wied, Isa Boletini and officers of the International Gendarmerie: Duncan Heaton-Armstrong and Colonel Thomson near Durres in June 1914
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Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg
Cadet branch of the House of Schönburg
Born: 21 May 1885 Died: 3 February 1936 |
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| Albanian royalty | ||
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| New title | Princess of Albania 7 March 1914 – 3 September 1914 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyias Queen of the Albanians |
