Tati Kryeziu

Prince of Kosova Tati Essad Murad Kryeziu (24 December 1923 – 17 August 1993) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Albania from the creation of monarchy on 1 September 1928 prior to the birth of Crown Prince Leka on 5 April 1939.

Early life

Tati Kryeziu was born in Tirana the son of Nafijé Zogu and Ceno Bey Kryeziu.^[1] His father was an hereditary Bey of the Gjakova area of Kosovo and his mother, Nafijé, was the sister of Ahmed Zogu the King of Albania and hereditary Bey of Mati. Their marriage in 1922 was considered a strategic one to ferment an alliance between the Zogu and Kryziu families who had been sworn enermies since Zogu had "betrayed" the Kosovars by accepting Yugoslav rule of the area. Their marriage did not create an enduring alliance because Cenu Bey was implicated in 1927 with a failed assassination plot to kill Zogu and was himself murdered in a revenge attack in Prague later that same year.

Despite the murder of his father, Tati was adopted by his uncle's family and spent the rest of his childhood in the Zogu residence in Tirana brought up like a son by Ahmet Zogu. In 1928 his uncle became King of the Albanians and his mother was elevated to the position of royal Princess. At the same time Tati became an honorary General of the Royal Albanian Army, at the age of five.

Prince of Kosovo

In 1931 while his uncle was still unmarried and childless, and to reinforce the fledgling royal institutions of Albania, he was made Heir Apparent with the style of His Highness and title of Prince of Kosovo (Princ i Kosovës). However, his position as heir apparent ended in 1939 with the birth of King Zog's own son Leka.

After the Italian invasion of Albania and the Royal House's exile in 1939, he accompanied his mother to France and then England where he spent World War II. At the end of the war he followed his family to Egypt. He married an Egyptian divorcee, Munira Sabri, at Cannes, France, on 24 February 1952. They divorced in 1970. He died in Cannes, France, on 17 August 1993 without issue^[2] and the title became dormant.

The title Prince of Kosovo was a personal gift from King Zog to Prince Tati and there is no record to claim it was ever envisaged that the title would be one automatically inherited by the eldest male heir of the Albanian throne, mirroring similar titles such as "Prince of Wales" in the United Kingdom and "Prince of Asturias" in Spain. If this was the case then the current holder would be Prince Leka of Albania. There is also no records to show that the title was withdrawn from Prince Tati following the birth in 1939 of the present head of the Albanian royal family; although it was clear that the line of succession had changed.

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