Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians. photo: Albanian Royal Court

Crown Prince Leka I was born at the Royal Palace in Tirana on April 5, 1939, the only child of King Zog I of the Albanians and Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony.

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Just two days after his birth, Fascist forces invaded Albania, and the family quickly fled into exile. They settled briefly in France before moving to England where they lived through the end of World War II and eventually moved to Egypt in 1946. During that time, Leka attended the British Boys School and Victoria College in Egypt before graduating from Aiglon College in Switzerland in 1956.

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Upon his 18th birthday in 1957, he formally became Crown Prince of the Albanians, although the monarchy had already been formally abolished several years earlier by the communist regime. When King Zog died in 1961, monarchists declared Leka to be King Leka I, although this title was merely in pretense. Having settled in France, he later moved to Spain in the early 1960s and continued his efforts to bring the monarchy back to Albania. During that time, with the assistance of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Leka began working as a commodities broker and established several businesses in the Middle East and Asia. Continuing his quest for the restoration of the monarchy – and the abolishment of the communist regime in Albania – Leka traveled extensively, seeking out support in building up forces to overtake the country. With the support of the Thai army, he began training Albanian volunteers for a potential rebellion.

On April 8, 1975, Leka married Susan Cullen-Ward in a civil ceremony held in Biarritz. The couple had met while studying at the Sorbonne several years earlier, after which Susan moved to Spain at Leka’s invitation. In Toledo, Spain, on October 10, 1975, the marriage was blessed by Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican clergy during a religious ceremony.

They had one son:

Leka first returned to Albania in 1993 but was quickly forced to leave within 24 hours. He returned in 1997 when a referendum regarding the restoration of the monarchy was being held. The referendum failed with only ⅓ of the votes in favor of restoration. Leka publicly questioned and challenged the independence of the election, leading to unrest – “police intervened, gunfire broke out, one person was killed, and Leka fled.” Later, the Albanian president at that time said that the referendum had been “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 is the Albanians voted massively for their King, but the referendum failed to meet quotas as it was manipulated.” Leka ended up leaving Albania and then was tried and found guilty of sedition for causing the unrest following the failed referendum. He was later pardoned in March 2002, when the Albanian Parliament strove to make amends and officially allowed and invited the former Royal Family to return to the country.

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On June 28, 2002, Leka, along with his wife, his son, and his mother Queen Geraldine, arrived in Albania and were greeted by thousands of supporters. Leka quickly established a public role, becoming an outspoken advocate for national unity and the restoration of the monarchy. He maintained an outspoken voice for rebuilding his country for several years before health issues led him to withdraw from public life in 2006.

On November 30, 2011, Crown Prince Leka I died at the Mother Teresa Hospital in Tirana, Albania. The government declared a National Day of Mourning, and he was given a state funeral, with full military honors. He was initially buried in the Sharra cemetery in Tirana next to his wife and mother. In November 2012, their remains were exhumed and reinterred in the newly rebuilt Royal Mausoleum.

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