Prince Leka of Albania
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| Prince Leka of Albania | |
| Born | March 26, 1982 (age 25) Sandton, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Title | Prince of Albania |
| Parents | Leka, Crown Prince of Albania and Susan Cullen-Ward |
Prince Leka of the Albanians (Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe Zogu, born March 26, 1982, Sandton, South Africa) is the titular Crown Prince of Albania.
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[edit] Early life
Crown Prince Leka II, is the son of the pretender to Albania's throne, King Leka, and his late wife, the former Susan Cullen-Ward, known as Queen Susan. See also some of his ancestry.
At the time of his birth, the South African government declared his maternity ward temporarily Albanian territory to ensure that Leka was born on Albanian soil.[1] He was named in honor of Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat, his grandfather King Zog, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran, and Baudouin I, King of the Belgians (his godfather). Msiziwe is a Zulu honorific.[citation needed] Through his paternal grandmother, Leka has some distant medieval roots in Albania, whereas his grandfather's much closer Albanian ancestry cannot be historically attested as far as to Middle Ages.[citation needed] Leka is a member of the Zogu dynasty founded by King Zog and also is a hereditary bey (Albanian tribal chieftain and traditional land owner) of the Gheg clan.
[edit] Education and current activities
Leka's secondary school education took place at St. Peter's College, Johannesburg. In December 2006 he graduated from Sandhurst Military Academy, United Kingdom as the “Best foreign student of the Academy” [2]. He was subsequently congratulated by the Albanian Minister of Defense for this achievement. He also has completed studies at the Università per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy, for the Italian Language and Economics. He is currently studying Law through correspondence.
Prince Leka, who currently resides in Tirana (although he has access to the former royal palace[citation needed]) is fluent in Albanian, French, English, Zulu and Italian. He owns four boxer dogs and his personal interests include martial arts, volleyball and swimming. He is also fond of wildlife and leads a very active life, taking part in and supporting mountain climbing and other outdoor sports, such as abseiling and target shooting.
He is known to have worked with youth organizations, like mjafte, and supported a wide range of humanitarian efforts in Albania, but maintains that he only supports "Self Help" projects to stimulate Albanian and Kosovar economic growth, Gazeta Sot.
Prince Leka is also a known supporter of Kosovo independence and has close ties with the Kosovo leadership in Priština. Where he has also renamed the university of Iliria as the "Royal University", Universiteti Mbretero Iliria.
Prince Leka also founded the Youth leadership of the "Movement for National Development" which was a movement created by His Father to change the political face of Albania in 2005.
[edit] Trivia
- Leka was featured in the cover story, 'Young and Royal', of Vanity Fair (magazine) in September 2003.
- It has recently (January 2007) been reported in Albania that Prince Leka, having completed his officer training in Britain, shall attempt to be elected as a Representative in Parliament. The Royal Family has a lot of grassroots support with the Albanian people, in Albania and Kosovo, Serbia.
- In April 2004 he accepted the Mother Teresa Medal on behalf of his late grandmother, Queen Geraldine, for her humanitarian efforts.[citation needed]
| Preceded by Crown Prince Leka |
Line of succession to the Albanian Throne 1982–present |
Succeeded by ' |
[edit] References
- Gwen Robyns - Geraldine of the Albanians ISBN 0-584-11133-9
