The 20th-century Kingdom of Albania was founded in 1928 by the Constituent Assembly, and President Ahmet Bej Zogu was declared as King Zog I of Albania. The kingdom operated under Salic law, which did not allow for the succession of women. The Queens mentioned are, therefore, consorts and not reigning Queens. Any claimed titles since the end of the kingdom are titular.
King Zog remained unmarried for the first ten years of his reign. He had been engaged when he became King, but that engagement was broken off. On 27 April 1938, he married the Hungarian-born Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, and their only son, Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, was born the following year.
Just two days after their son’s birth, Italy invaded the country and the family, in fear for their lives, fled into exile. Albania was declared a protectorate under the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III and the Kingdom of Albania was no more.
The former King Zog continued as the Head of the House of Zogu until his death in 1961. He was succeeded in his claims by his only son, Leka. He was still unmarried at the time, and he eventually married the Australian-born Susan Cullen-Ward in 1975, making her the titular Queen of Albania. Their only son, also named Leka, was born in 1982.
Susan predeceased her husband by seven years, dying of lung cancer in 2004. Leka died of a heart attack in 2011, and he was buried alongside Susan.
He was succeeded in his claim to the Albanian throne by his son, Leka. He married his long-time girlfriend, Elia Zaharia, in 2016, making her titular Queen of Albania. The couple had one daughter, Princess Geraldine, in 2020. They were divorced on 25 April 2024, making the position of titular Queen currently vacant.
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