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Leka, Prince of Albania

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Leka
Crown Prince of Albania
File:LekaZoguII.jpg
Head of the House of Zogu
Period30 November 2011 - present
PredecessorCrown Prince Leka I
Born (1982-03-26) 26 March 1982 (age 42)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Spouse
​
(m. 2016)​
Names
Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe Zogu
HouseZogu
FatherCrown Prince Leka I of Albania
MotherSusan Cullen-Ward

Template:Albanian Royal Family Prince Leka of Albania (Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe Zogu, born 26 March 1982) is the only child of the first Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, and Susan Cullen-Ward. Prince Leka was an official at the Albanian Ministry of Interior and in the past has served as an advisor at the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidency. The prince is referred by some Albanian monarchists as King Leka II since the death of his father, whom they referred to as Leka I. On 30 November 2011, he succeeded as head of the House of Zogu, titular King of the Albanians upon the death of his father.

In May 2010, the Prince became engaged to Elia Zaharia,[1] an Albanian actress and singer. They married on 8 October 2016 in Tirana.[2]

Early life

Leka is the son of the pretender to Albania's throne, Crown Prince Leka I, and his Australian wife Susan Cullen-Ward known as Queen Susan.

At the time of his birth in 1982, the South African government declared his maternity ward temporarily Albanian territory to ensure that Leka was born on Albanian soil,[3] although the Albanian government would not have recognised it as such. He was named in honour of Egyptian president Anwar El Sadat, his grandfather King Zog I, Emperor Mohammed Reza of Iran, and Baudouin I, King of the Belgians. Msiziwe is a Zulu honorific. Leka is a member of the Zogu dynasty founded by King Zog and also is a hereditary bey (Albanian tribal chieftain and traditional land owner) of the Gheg clan.

Education and activities

Leka's secondary school education took place at St Peter's College, an Anglican school in Johannesburg. In December 2006, he graduated from Sandhurst Military Academy, United Kingdom, as did his father before him. Prince Leka was the “Best foreign student of the Academy”.[4] He was subsequently congratulated by the Albanian Minister of Defence for this achievement. He also has completed studies at the Università per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy, in the Italian language. He subsequently also completed training at the Albanian Military Academy Skanderbej. He is studying international relations.[5]

Prince Leka resides in Tirana, and speaks Albanian and English, and also speaks some Zulu and Italian. He owns boxer dogs and his personal interests include martial arts, volleyball and swimming. He is also fond of wildlife and has taken part in mountain climbing, abseiling and target shooting.

On 5 April 2004 Prince Leka accepted the Mother Teresa Medal in behalf of his late grandmother, Queen Géraldine, for her humanitarian efforts.[6]

Prince Leka is known to have worked with youth organizations, like MJAFT!, and supported a wide range of humanitarian efforts in Albania, but maintains that he only supports "self-help" projects to stimulate Albanian and Kosovar economic growth, Gazeta Sot.

Prince Leka is also known as a supporter of Kosovo independence from Serbia and has close ties with the Kosovo leadership in Pristina. Iliria Royal University in Prishtina and Tirana is styled as regal and functions with some reference to him.

Prince Leka also founded the Youth leadership of the "Movement for National Development" which was a movement created by his father in 2005, to change the political face of Albania.

On 24 June 2010 Prince Leka unveiled a blue plaque at Parmoor House in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, which was the home of King Zog during his wartime exile.

Career in Albanian leadership

On 21 August 2007, Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha announced that Leka had been appointed to his office. The prince intended to pursue a career in diplomacy.[5] After two years he transferred to the office of the Minister of Interior. After the election of Bujar Nishani as President in 2012, Leka was appointed as political adviser to the President.[7]

Personal life

Prince Leka met Elia Zaharia in Paris, and in May 2010 they got engaged. Since then she has accompanied the Prince on most of his visits and meetings with members of other royal families. She is also head of the Queen Geraldine Foundation, which is a humanitarian, charitable and non-profit organisation, created by the Royal Court. The foundation aims to be close to the Albanian families who need help and to children who need care. It has reconstructed numerous schools and kindergartens in northern Albania, especially in the Mat District, from where the Zogu Family comes.

On 27 March 2016 it was announced by Skënder Zogu, a member of the Albanian Royal Family, that the couple would be married on 8 October 2016 in the Royal Palace in Tirana.[2]

Wedding

Main article: Wedding of Prince Leka II and Elia Zaharia
Dual Cypher of Prince Leka and Princess Elia

Prince Leka were married on Saturday 8 October 2016 in Tirana. The ceremony was a semi-official ceremony, held in Tirana in the Royal Palace, with many guests including members of other noble and royal families. The event was a civil wedding officiated by the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj. A blessing was given by the five religious leaders of Albania representing the faiths of Sunni Islam, Bektashi, and the Christian denominations of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant. This tradition of the Albanian royal family is part of the tradition of religious tolerance in Albania.[8]

Wedding guests included friends and relatives from around the world including relatives of Queen Susan's from Australia. Guests also included members of other royal families from neighbouring countries and further afield. These included Queen Sofia of Spain and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Prince Michael of Kent is a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and his wife Princess Michael of Kent is related to Prince Leka through her mother, Countess Marianne Szapáry, who was a cousin of Queen Geraldine and had been a bridesmaid at her wedding to King Zog in 1938. Other royal guests included Farah Pahlavi of Iran, Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia, Crown Prince Nikoli of Montenegro, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg together with Princess Sibilla, Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, Princess Léa of Belgium and other members from the royal families of Russia, Liechtenstein, Romania, Greece, Georgia, Morocco and members of other noble families. Heads of state of Albania also attended the ceremony.[9]

Honours

Awards

Ancestors

Family of Leka, Prince of Albania
16. Xhelal Pasha Zogu, Governor of Mati
8. Xhemal Pasha Zogu, Governor of Mati
17. Ruhijé Alltuni
4. Zog I of Albania
18. Salah Bey Toptani
9. Sadijé Toptani
19. a Lady of Toptani family
2. Leka I of Albania
20. Count Lajos Apponyi de Nagy-Appony
10. Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Appony
21. Countess Marguerite of Scherr-Thoß
5. Countess Géraldine Apponyi de Nagyappony
22. John Henry Stewart
11. Gladys Virginia Stewart
23. Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding
1. Leka II of Albania
24. William Cullen-Ward
12. Rupert Allen Cullen-Ward
25. Mary Ann Hibbard
6. Alan Robert Cullen-Ward
26. Robert Collins
13. Mary Winifred Collins
27. Winifred Geraghty
3. Susan Cullen-Ward
28. The Hon. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior
14. Robert Sterling Murray-Prior
29. Nora Clarina Barton
7. Phyllis Dorothea Murray-Prior
30. Gerard Edgar Herring
15. Estella Augusta Herring
31. Caroline Estella De Lange

See also

  • House of Zogu
  • Skënder Zogu
  • Line of succession to the former Albanian throne
  • Rees, Neil: A Royal Exile – King Zog & Queen Geraldine of Albania including their wartime exile in the Thames Valley and Chilterns, 2010 (ISBN 978-0-9550883-1-5)

References

  1. ^ "membres.htm". Archivesgotha.chez-alice.fr. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Boda real de Leka y Elia de Albania: Leka y Elia de Albania: así son los novios de la boda que reunirá a la realeza de Europa. Noticias de Casas Reales". Vanitatis.elconfidencial.com. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Albanian Royal Family - Prince Leka". Albanianroyalcourt.al. 26 March 1982. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ a b "Ministria e Punëve të Jashtme". Mfa.gov.al. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3] [dead link]
  8. ^ "Fotot+Video/ Dasma mbretĂŤrore, Elia Zaharia i thotĂŤ "Po" Princ LekĂŤs. Marrin bekimin e krerĂŤve fetarĂŤ". BalkanWeb.com. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Royal Couple at Royal Wedding in Albania | The Royal Family of Serbia". Royalfamily.org. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  10. ^ a b c "Albanian Royal Family - Royal Decorations and Warrents". Albanianroyalcourt.al. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  11. ^ "zogu2". Royalark.net. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Photographic image" (JPG). Noblesseetroyautes.com. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  13. ^ [4]
  14. ^ "Italy honours HRH Prince Leka II and the Albanian Independence". Gazetadielli.com. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Photographic image" (JPG). Nobility-association.com. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  16. ^ "22052012LekaII". Albania.dyndns.org. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  17. ^ "Albania's Crown Prince Leka II invested as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". Constantinian.org.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.

Bibliography

  • Patrice Najbor, Histoire de l'Albanie et de sa maison royale (5 volumes), JePublie, Paris, 2008, (ISBN 978-2-9532382-0-4).
  • Patrice Najbor, la dynastye des Zogu, Textes & Prétextes, Paris, 2002
  • Geraldine of the Albanians; Robyns, Gwen – ISBN 0-584-11133-9
Leka, Prince of Albania
Born: 26 March 1982
Albanian royalty
Preceded by — TITULAR —
King of the Albanians
30 November 2011 – present
Reason for succession failure:
House of Zogu deposed 1939 		Incumbent

Template:Pretenders to the Albanian throne

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