King Zog and Queen Geraldine of Albania were forced into exile after the Italian invasion of Albania in the spring of 1939. There must have been a sense of déjà vu for the queen. Her childhood had been spent nation hopping around central and western Europe. Now as the one and only Queen of Albania she was sent on what was to become a lifelong odyssey. The royal couple’s first port of call was Greece, where they arrived with 115 members of the royal retinue in tow. Before long they were off to Turkey then Romania, Poland, the Baltic republics, Sweden, Belgium and France before landing in London. The latter city was where Zog, always a sucker for extravagant spending, rented an entire floor of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. He funded the family’s ostentatious lifestyle from funds he had stolen from Albania’s gold reserve. Even with an immense personal fortune, Zog’s spendthrift ways jeopardized the lavish lifestyle he and the queen felt was rightfully theirs. Something eventually had to give and one of the first things to go bad were the couple’s finances. They eventually settled on a manor house in the English countryside. The plan was to wait for the Italians, then later the Germans, to be thrown out of Albania so that Zog could regain the throne.
Queen Geraldine and King Zog in exile
Beyond Control – Citizens of Everywhere & Nowhere
King Zog was never allowed the opportunity to return to Albania. The nation was captured by a totalitarian communist government led by a crazier than usual Stalinist dictator by the name of Enver Hoxha. Like Zog, Hoxha rose to power and then kept it by eliminating his enemies. Unlike Zog, Hoxha was much cannier at managing Albania’s foreign alliances. When the Yugoslavs grew too influential, Hoxha aligned Albania with the Soviet Union. When the Soviets wanted to build a naval base on Albania’s Adriatic coast, Hoxha threw in his lot with Maoist China. He was able to consolidate his control over the country by having his opponents murdered. This was exactly the same thing Zog had done when he was in power. The names and ideologies may have changed, but for Albania the turmoil continued. All the while, King Zog, Queen Geraldine and Crown Prince Leka languished in exile. The British were not about to involve themselves in the affairs of Albania, a distant, impoverished country with an odd sounding name. Zog did manage to impress at least one British politician during his stay in Great Britain. Conservative MP Julian Amery stated that Zog was the cleverest man he ever met. Compliments were nice, but they would do nothing to restore the royalty of Albania.
Zog and Geraldine moved to Egypt after the Second World War ended. The Egyptian royal family had its origins in Albania. Thus they were happy to host their distant kin. This arrangement lasted into the early 1950’s, when King Farouk was thrown out of power. After the coup, Zog and Geraldine visited the United States where they decided to purchase a sixty room mansion in Nassau County, New York. They then made the rather strange decision of choosing not to live there. What Geraldine thought of the royal family’s rootless existence is anyone’s guess. They were becoming world citizens rather than ruling family. Geraldine had lived in over a dozen countries. The rootlessness must have seemed somewhat normal to her by this point in her life. As for Zog he longed to regain his throne. Such a prospect became more and more distant as the years passed. Finally, the couple settled on a long term residence in France.
Royal Family Without A Country – King Zog, Queen Geraldine, and Crown Prince Leka in exile
The King Is Dead – Long Live The Queen
King Zog spent his final years with his wife and son in France. It was nothing short of a miracle that a man who had lived one of the most unhealthy lifestyles possible – smoking like a chimney and staying up all hours of the night – lived to the age of sixty-five. The cause of his death was not disclosed, but could have been summed up as too much hard living. At the time of his death, Albania was completely closed off to the outside world. There was no hope of returning his remains to the hermit nation he had once ruled over with absolute authority. He was laid to rest in a cemetery close to Paris. His death was not the end of the story for Albanian royalty. Geraldine kept hope alive by insisting that she be referred to as “Queen Mother of Albania” and that Crown Prince Leka was now the rightful heir to the throne. In a hotel room in Paris he was formally anointed King of Albania. Such actions made them little more than a footnote in world affairs at the time.
Nothing would change unless Albania came under a new form of government. In the meantime, the Queen and her son continued their movements abroad, relocating to South Africa. They never gave up the dream of returning to Albania, but the prospects of it happening looked bleaker than ever. That was until the Iron Curtain fell and a couple of years later communism in Albania collapsed. Leka tried going back to Albania in 1993 to reclaim the throne and was promptly tossed out of the country. He had better luck four years later when Queen Geraldine accompanied him. It was the first time she had been back since fleeing a couple of days after Leka’s birth in April 1939. A referendum was held at the time to see whether the monarchy should be restored to power.
A lifetime of wanderings – Queen Geraldine
Back To The Beginning – The End Of A Long & Twisted Tale
Despite the wretched governance and venal corruption shown by Albania’s post-Communist governments, monarchical rule was an anachronism to most Albanians. The majority of whom had not even been born when King Zog last ruled the country. Only 30% voted in favor of a restoration. This finally put an end to the long and twisted tale of the Albanian monarchy. That was except for Queen Geraldine. Once again, she took up residence in the country. She lived out the final years of her life in a modest home in the capital city of Tirana. She would die there in 2002. A lifetime of wandering had finally come to an end for her. The surreal fairy tale died out right where it began.
Click here for: A Twisted Fairy Tale – King Zog & Queen Geraldine: An Albanian Love Affair (Part One)
Europe Between East And West 