Leka and Elia on their wedding day with some of their guests. Front row, left to right: Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco, Empress Farah of Iran, Elia, Leka, Queen Sofía of Spain. Second row, left to right: Alexander, Crown Prince of Serbia, Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Margareta of Romania, Prince Radu of Romania, Nicholas, Prince of Montenegro; Credit – By RoyalblogNL, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122942226
On January 16, 2024, it was announced that Crown Prince Leka II, the current claimant to the defunct throne of Albania, and his wife Crown Princess Elia, the former Elia Zaharia, an Albanian actress and singer, were ending their marriage.
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Crown Prince Leka and Crown Princess Elia were married at the Royal Palace in Tirana, Albania on October 8, 2016. A civil ceremony was held, officiated by the Mayor of Tirana, followed by a blessing from the religious leaders of Albania representing the Sunni Islam, Bektashi, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant faiths. This showed the long-standing tradition of religious diversity and tolerance in the country, and within the Albanian Royal Family.
The couple has a daughter Princess Geraldine, born on October 22, 2020. She was named in honor of her great-grandmother Queen Geraldine, as she was born on the anniversary of the Queen’s death 18 years earlier.
Albania ceased being a kingdom in 1939, when on the orders of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Italian forces invaded and occupied Albania, forcing Leka’s grandfather King Zog and his family into exile. Since 1939, there have been three claimants to the throne of Albania
Learn more about the Kingdom of Albania at Unofficial Royalty: Kingdom of Albania Index.