To the sound of a 101 gun salute, Zog entered ceremoniously with a long polished rosewood box, which he placed on the beside table. From it he lifted a bronze pistol. He held the gun near the blue eyed baby and placed its tiny hand on the carved ivory butt, saying........ 'Be strong and courageous like your ancestors!'

Crown Prince Leka of Albania (born April 5, 1939), is the only son of King Zog I by Queen Geraldine.
King Zog I was forced into exile only two days after the birth of Leka.

After the Royal Family fled Albania in 1939 they settled first in France and then in England, living at the Ritz Hotel, London and from 1941 at Parmoor House in Buckinghamshire. In 1946 they left to live in Alexandria in Egypt and later moved to Paris, where King Zog died in 1961.

Leka was educated at Parmoor House and at English schools in Egypt and Switzerland. He also studied Economics at the Sorbonne and passed out of Sandhurst Military Academy in England.

At the death of King Zog I in 1961, Leka was proclaimed King of the Albanians by the Albanian National Assembly in Exile, in Paris.

He married in 1975, in Biarritz, to the Australian citizen Susan Cullen-Ward, daughter of a wealthy Australian landowner.

The wedding was a large event with the many guests toasting "Long live the King". The wedding reception was attended by 2000 people. King Leka and Queen Susan lived in Spain and then moved to Rhodesia before moving to South Africa.

Leka spent a long time in exile in Bryanston, South Africa, where his son the Crown Prince, Prince Leka II was born in 1982.

 In 1993 King Leka entered Albania for the first time since he was a child, doing so under a passport issued by his Royal Court-in-exile. The Albanian authorities permitted him to enter.

A referendum was held in Albania in 1997 for the restoration of the monarchy. Results were disputed but, the official result was that, this was supported by approximately 40% of voters.

Since 2002 King Leka has lived in Tirana.

King Leka is backed by the Legality Party which formed a coalition with other parties in Albania.

King Leka died on 30th November 2011 aged 72.

Exile

Proclaimed King

Return to Albania