Egyptian Exile
11 Jan 1946 Court of King Zog leaves Parmoor House
12 Jan 1946 Departed England on the “City of Exeter”
23 July 1952 King Farouk of Egypt toppled
1955 Royal court moves to Cannes, France
Cold War
May 1955 Albania founding member of Warsaw Pact
1957-58 Prince Leka attends Sandhurst, England
1961 Court of King Zog moved to Ablon, Paris
9th April 1961 King Zog died in Paris aged 65
1961 Prince Leka declared King Leka of the Albanians
1961 King Leka & Queen Geraldine moved to Madrid, Spain
1967 Campaign to extinguish religious life in Albania
7 Oct 1975 King Leka married Susan Cullen-Ward
1979 King Leka moved to Rhodesia
1980 King Leka moved to South Africa
26 March 1982 Prince Leka II born in South Africa
April 1985 Enver Hoxha dies
Dec 1989 Communism starts to fall in Eastern Europe
Restoration of Democracy
1990 Independent political parties allowed in Albania
March 1991 First post-war democratic elections
Nov 1993 King Leka visits Albania
13 April 1997 King Leka visits Albania
July 1997 Referendum on the monarchy
1998 Unrest in Kosova
June 2000 Street in Tirana named “Boulevard Ahmet Zogu”
Zogu family return to Albania
28 June 2002 Royal Family returns to live in Tirana
22 Oct 2002 Queen Geraldine died in Tirana aged 87
17 July 2004 Queen Susan died in Tirana aged 63
Milestones
27 April 2008 70th anniversary of King Zog’s wedding -
26 June 2010 70th anniversary of King Zog’s exile in England
Creation of the state of Albania
8 Oct 1895 Ahmet Muhtur Bey Zogu born
28 Nov 1912 Independance of Albania declared
30 May 1913 Treaty of London ends 1st Balkan War
7 March 1914 Wilhelm zu Wied, Prince of Albania arrives
3 Sep 1914 Prince Wilhelm zu Wied leaves Albania
1914-18 First World War
Feb 1920 Albanian capital moved to Tirana
Dec 1920 Albania admitted to League of Nations
Dec 1921 Popular Party forms a government
Sept 1922 Zogu becomes Prime Minister
Jan 1925 Gendarmerie under British officers formed
21 Jan 1925 Zogu elected to become President
Nov 1926 Italy and Albania sign First Treaty of Tirana
Kingdom of Albania
1 Sept 1928 Albania becomes a Kingdom
27 April 1938 King Zog married Countess Geraldine
30 Sept 1938 British officers of the gendarmerie dismissed
5 April 1939 Crown Prince Leka born in Tirana
7 April 1939 Mussolini’s troops invade Albania
8 April 1939 Royal Family in exile in Greece
Royal Exile in England
25 June 1940 Royal family left France
26 June 1940 Royal family arrive in Plymouth
27 June 1940 Royal family move to London
28 June 1940 King Zog moves to the Ritz Hotel, London
May 1941 Zog’s court moves to Forest Ridge, North Ascot
30 June 1941 1st Lord Parmoor died
Sept 1941 King Zog leases Parmoor House
Meanwhile in Albania
Nov 1941 Albanian Communist Party formed
Aug 1943 Fascist Italy surrenders to Allies
Sept 1943 Nazi Germany invades Albania
Jan 1944 Communists take control of Albania
Nov 1944 Germans leave Albania
Dec 1944 Communist government formed
8 May 1945 Victory in Europe (VE) day
1 Jan 1946 People’s Republic of Albania declared
