Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi

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Geraldine
Queen of the Albanians
Born August 6, 1915(1915-08-06)
Birthplace Flag of Austria-Hungary Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died October 22, 2002 (aged 87)
Place of death Flag of Albania Tirana, Albania
Consort April 27, 1938 - April 7, 1939
Consort to King Zog I
Issue Crown Prince Leka
Father Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi
Mother Gladys Virginia Steuart

Countess Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (August 6, 1915–October 22, 2002) was the Queen consort of King Zog I, of the Zogu dynasty of Albania. From the time of her marriage she was known as Queen Geraldine of the Albanians (in Albanian, Geraldina Zog, Mbretėreshė i Shqiptarėvet)[1]

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[edit] Early life

Geraldine was born in Budapest, Hungary, a daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi (1873–1924). Her mother was Gladys Virginia Steuart (1891–1947), an American, daughter of millionaire John Henry Steuart from Virginia, a diplomat who served as American Consul to Antwerp, Belgium, and his wife Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding. Through her mother, Geraldine was related to Richard Nixon and poet Robert Frost.

When the Empire of Austria-Hungary collapsed, the Apponyi family went to reside in Switzerland. In 1921 they returned to the Kingdom of Hungary which was relatively stable under Regent Miklós Horthy.

However, when Geraldine's father died, her mother decided to take their three children (Geraldine, Virginia, and Gyula) with her to the resort of Menton in the south of France. When Countess de Nagy-Apponyi decided to marry a French officer, her Hungarian in-laws insisted that the children be returned to Hungary for their schooling. They were sent to the Sacred Heart boarding school in Pressbaum, near Vienna.

Her family's fortune spent, Geraldine earned a living as a shorthand-typist. She also worked in the gift shop of the Budapest National Museum, where her uncle was the director.

[edit] Royal life

Geraldine was introduced to King Zog I in December 1937, after his sister had approached Geraldine on behalf of the monarch. The King had seen the young Hungarian woman's photograph. She went to Albania and within days the couple were engaged to be married. Known as the "White Rose of Hungary", Geraldine was raised to royal status as Princess Geraldine of Albania prior to her wedding. She had some distant Albanian roots[citation needed].

On April 27, 1938, in Tirana, Albania, Geraldine married the king in a ceremony witnessed by Galeazzo Ciano, envoy and son-in-law of Prime Minister of Italy Benito Mussolini. She was Roman Catholic and King Zog was Muslim. They drove to their honeymoon in an open-top scarlet Mercedes-Benz, a present from Führer Adolf Hitler. The couple had one son Leka Zogu (1939–) now King Leka I of the Albanians.

Zog's rule was cut short with the Invasion of Albania by the Kingdom of Italy in April 1939, and the family fled the country into exile. From 1939, Geraldine and Zog lived in Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Egypt, United States, and France. King Zog died in Hauts-de-Seine, France, in 1961 and their son, Prince Leka, was declared King Leka and they moved to Spain, Rhodesia and then South Africa.

[edit] Later life

From 1961, when her son was proclaimed king of the Albanians by the royalist government in exile, she preferred to be known as the Queen Mother of Albania [2]. In June of 2002, Geraldine returned to Albania from South Africa to live in Tirana, after the law was changed to allow her to do so, and she continued to assert that her son Leka was the legitimate king of the Albanians.

Queen Geraldine died at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana. After having been admitted for treatment for lung disease, she suffered at least three heart attacks, the last of which was fatal, on October 22, 2002[3]. She was buried by the Central House of the Army and with full honors, including a funeral oration at the cathedral of Shen Pjetri, on October 26, 2002, and interred in the public cemetery of Sharra, Albania, at "The Plot of VIPs".

Her grandson, Prince Leka of Albania posthumously accepted a medal from the Albanian government on behalf of her charitable efforts on behalf of the people of Albania.

[edit] Titles

  • Gräfin (Countess) Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi (1915-1938)
  • Her Royal Highness Princess Geraldine of Albania (Geraldina, Princësh i Shqiptarë) (10 January–27 April 1938)[1]
  • Her Majesty Queen Geraldine of the Albanians (Geraldina Zog, Mbretëreshë i Shqiptarëvet) (actual title, 1938-2002)
  • Her Majesty the Queen Mother of the Albanians (Nëna Mbretëreshë i Shqiptarëvet) (courtesy title, 1961-2002)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Royal Ark
  2. ^ law.nyu.edu
  3. ^ BBC News Online - Former Albanian queen dies

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Albanian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg
as Princess of Albania		 Queen of the Albanians
April 27, 1938 - April 7, 1939		 Succeeded by
Elena of Montenegro
as Queen of Albania