King of Albania

While the medieval Angevin Kingdom of Albania was a monarchy, it did not encompass the entirety of the modern state of Albania. The latter has been a kingdom on two occasions. The first time was after it declared independence in 1912.

King of Albania
Details
StyleHis Majesty
Last monarchZog I (fully recognized)
Vittorio Emanuele III (partly recognized)
Formation7 March 1914
Abolition11 January 1946
ResidenceRoyal Palace of Durrës
Royal Palace of Tirana
AppointerHereditary
Pretender(s)Leka II

History

The Albanian Congress of Trieste of 1913 discussed the question of the future prince and several candidates came through: Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, Marchese D'Auletta (claiming descendance from Skanderbeg) with the support of the Arbereshe delegates and Italy, Prince Albert Ghica from Romania supported by the Albanian colony there, and Aladro Kastriota.[1]

Under the independence settlement imposed by the Great Powers, the country was styled a principality, and its ruler, William of Wied (German: Wilhelm zu Wied), was titled prince. However, these styles were only used outside the country. In Albanian, William was referred to as mbret, meaning king. This was because many local nobles already had the title of prince (princ, prinq, or prenk in various Albanian dialects), and because domestically the Albanian sovereign could not be seen as holding a title inferior to that of the king of Montenegro. Prince William's full style was: "By the grace of the powers and the will of the people the prince of Albania".

William was forced into exile by internal disorder just after the outbreak of World War I, and Albania was to be occupied by various foreign powers for most of the war. In the confusing aftermath of the war, some of the several regimes competing for power officially styled themselves as regencies for William. Albania's first monarchy ended definitively when the restored central government declared the country a republic in 1924.

Four years later, on September 1, 1928, President Ahmed Bey Zogu proclaimed himself "king of the Albanians"[2] (Mbret i Shqiptarëve in Albanian). Zog sought to establish a constitutional monarchy. Under the royal constitution, the Albanian king, like the king of the Belgians, had to swear an oath before parliament before entering into his royal powers. The text of the oath was as follows:

I, name, King of the Albanians, on ascending the Throne of the Albanian Kingdom and assuming the Royal powers, swear in the presence of God Almighty that I will maintain national unity, the independence of the state, and its territorial integrity, and I will maintain and conform to the statute and laws in force, having the good of the people always in mind. So help me God!

Zog's kingdom came to be tied more and more closely to Victor Emmanuel III's Italy, until the latter occupied it on April 7, 1939. Zog fled the country, and five days later, the Albanian Parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel as the new king. He took Zog's title king and formally retained until he abdicated as Albanian monarch in 1943. Zog I was then reinstated as king (though he never returned to Albania), serving until the socialist People's Republic of Albania was established in 1946.

During and after World War II, some Albanians worked for the return of King Zog; however, they were not successful. Neither Zog nor Victor Emmanuel had his Albanian royal title widely acknowledged by the international community. The constitution of the Albanian Kingdom specified that, were the king to flee during war, he would abdicate any claims to the throne, including those of his descendants. Zog's son, the late Crown Prince Leka (1939–2011), was the main pretender to the Albanian Crown. As he himself stated, his title was not "king of Albania" but "king of the Albanians", which includes the claim to Kosovo and part of today's North Macedonia. Since Crown Prince Leka's death in late November, 2011, the main pretender to the Albanian Throne is his son Leka.

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See also

References
  1. Nopcsa, Franz. "The Congress of Trieste". Robert Elsie. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  2. "Albania Holds Funeral for Self-Styled King Leka I". FOX News. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

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
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