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| La famille royale albanaise retourne dans son pays pour la première fois depuis 1939. Photographie (c) SAR le Prince héritier Leka des Albanais |
Le vendredi 28 juin 2002, la famille royale albanaise est revenue en Albanie pour la première fois depuis soixante-trois ans. Parmi les membres de la Maison Zogu, on compte le roi Léka Ier des Albanais, son épouse la reine Susan, sa mère la reine mère Géraldine et son fils le prince héritier Léka. La famille vivait à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud, depuis les années 1980. La famille royale albanaise avait été forcée de quitter son pays en 1939 face à l'invasion des troupes italiennes. Des quatre membres qui sont revenus en 2002, seuls deux avaient déjà mis les pieds en Albanie : Géraldine avait mis les pieds en Albanie en 1938, lorsqu'elle avait été courtisée et mariée par le roi Léka Ier d'Albanie ; son fils Leka était né à Tirana le 5 avril 1939 et, deux jours plus tard, ses parents avaient fui le pays avec leur petit garçon pour échapper aux forces de Mussolini.
King Zog, Queen Geraldine, and Crown Prince Leka lived in exile in numerous countries. From August 1939 – June 1940, the family lived in France. However, the outbreak of World War II caused the king and queen to decide that they would be safer in the United Kingdom, which is where they relocated in June 1940. Zog, Geraldine, and Leka were to remain in Great Britain until January 1946. In that month, the royals moved to Egypt, where they lived in Cairo until July 1955. The change of the Egyptian government after the deposition of King Farouk was a key factor in the decision to return to France. From July 1955 until late 1961, the family lived in France. King Zog died in Paris on 9 April 1961. Queen Mother Geraldine and son Leka, the newly acclaimed King of the Albanians, moved to Madrid, Spain, where they resided until 1979. During that time, the royal family grew by one. In 1975, King Leka married Susan Cullen-Ward, an Australian teacher whom he had met at a dinner party in Sydney in 1970. Events forced King Leka and Queen Susan to depart Spain in early 1979. From February 1979 until April 1980, the royal couple lived in Rhodesia, during which time the queen was delivered of a stillborn baby daughter. When Robert Mugabe came to power in the newly formed country of Zimbabwe, Leka and Susan left and settled in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they were granted diplomatic status. It was there that their only surviving child, Crown Prince Leka, was born on 26 March 1982. In the meantime, Queen Mother Geraldine stayed in Madrid until 1995, when she left Spain to join her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in South Africa. It was from there that the family departed Johannesburg for Tirana on 28 June 2002.
When they arrived at Tirana International Airport, the Albanian royal family was greeted by crowds of supporters. They took up residence in a home in central Tirana. Several months after the family’s return, Queen Mother Geraldine of Albania passed away on 22 October 2002 at the age of eighty-seven. Four days later, Her Majesty was buried in the Mausoleum of the Albanian Royal Family in Tirana. Two years after the death of her mother-in-law, Queen Susan of the Albanians died on 17 July 2004, aged sixty-three. The queen joined the queen mother in the royal mausoleum. Lastly, on 30 November 2011, King Leka I of the Albanians passed away at the Mother Teresa Hospital in Tirana at the age of seventy-two. He was buried with his wife and mother. In 2012, King Zog’s remains were repatriated from France and laid to rest beside his wife, his son, and his daughter-in-law.
Crown Prince Leka (II) of the Albanians resides with his wife Crown Princess Elia at the Royal Compound in Tirana.
For more about the Royal Family of Albania, please visit this link: Albanian Royal Court
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