ALBANIA
The House of Wied
GENEALOGY
1913 - [1920] H.H. Vilhelm I, Prince of Albania (Mbret i Shquipëria), GCVO (19.2.1914). b. at Castle Neuwied am Rhein, near Coblenz, Germany, 26th March 1876, as H.S.H. Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich, Prince zu Wied (Fürst zu Wied), third son of General of Infantry H.S.H. Wilhelm Adolf Maximilian Karl, 5th Prince zu Wied, Count of Isemburg, Lord of Runkel and Neuerburg, etc, sometime Presdt of the Prussian House of Lords and Mbr Imperial German Council for Colonial Affairs, by his wife, H.R.H. Princess Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine Anna Louise Marie, Princess zu Wied, younger daughter of Admiral H.R.H. Prince Willem Frederik Karel of the Netherlands, educ. Univ of Jena, Germany. Cmsnd as Lieut in the Gardes du Corps of the Royal Prussian Army, prom Capt of Cavalry 1911, GSO 1911-1912, sqd cdr 3rd Guards Regt of Uhlans at Potsdam 1912, resigned 1914, rejoined and prom Maj 14/10/1914, served in the Great War under the nom de guerre of Count von Kruja on the German divisional staff on the Eastern Front 1915-1917. The six European powers selected him to be sovereign prince of Albania 23rd November 1913 and formally informed of his selection, following ratification by the provisional Albanian government at Vlora, 3rd December 1913. He formally accepted signified his consent in writing to the British, Russian and French Ambassadors in Berlin, 6th February 1914. He received a delegation of Albanian representatives from every province of the country led by Essad Pasha Toptani and Eqrem Bey Vlora, who bore a casket of Albanian sand, earth and water, when he formally accepted the government, and was proclaimed as Vilhelm I, Sovereign Prince of Albania with the style of His Highness*, at Neuwied Castle, 21st February 1914. Arrived at Durazzo and took up residence at the Konak, 7th March 1914. He left the country after the withdrawal of the Great Powers and the stoppage of the subsidies from France and Italy, 3rd September 1914. Deposed by the Albanian National Assembly in June 1920, but he never abdicated his rights to the Albanian crown. Became a Rumanian citizen in 1934. Founder and Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of the Black Eagle, in five classes and three medals, 26th March 1914. Author of “Denkschrift uber Albanien” (1917). Rcvd: Knt of the Order of St Alexander Nevski of Russia (27.2.1914), GC of the Orders of North Star of Sweden (1896), Friedrich of Württemberg (29.10.1898), the Star of Rumania (4.12.1913), SS Maurice & Lazarus of Italy (10.2.1914), Leopold of Austria (13.2.1914), Legion of Honour of France (19.2.1914), and the Red Eagle 1st class of Prussia (25.2.1914), Knt of the Johanniter Order, Knt 3rd class of the Order of the Prussian Crown, Knt’s Cross of the Order of Military Merit 5th class without crown of Bulgaria, Zentar Medal, 1914/18 War Cross of Honour of Germany (1934), and the Carol I 40th Anniversary Jubilee (1906), Carol II Reign Anniversary (1934), Carol I Centenary (1939) medals of Rumania, etc. m. at Waldenburg, Saxony, 30th November 1906, H.H. Sofia, Princess of Albania (Mbretëreshë i Shquipëria) (b. at Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, 21st May 1885; d. at Fântânele Castle, PaÅŸcani, Moldavia, Rumania, 3rd February 1936, bur. Evangelical Cathedral, Bucharest), née H.S.H. Princess Sophie Helene Cecile of Schönburg-Waldenburg, younger daughter of H.S.H. Otto Carl Victor, Hereditary Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, by his wife, H.S.H. Princess Lucie Franziska Euphrosyne Anna Alexandrine Georgine, eldest daughter of Lieutenant-General H.S.H. Prince Emil Karl Adolf of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, sometime ADC General to the Emperor of Russia, by his first wife, H.S.H. Princess Pulsheria, daughter of Prince Nicolae Constantin Cantacuzino, of PaÅŸcani, Moldavia, Rumania. He d. at Predeal, near Sinaia, Rumania, 18th April 1945 (bur. Evangelical Cathedral, Bucharest), having had issue, one son and one daughter:
- 1) H.H. Prince Carol Victor, Hereditary Prince of Albania (Princ i Shquipëria). b. at Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, 19th May 1913, as Prince Karl Viktor Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Günther zu Wied, educ. privately and at Berlin Univ (Dr jur). Raised to the title of Hereditary Prince of Albania and the style of His Highness 21st February. Succeeded on the death of his father as Head of the Princely House of Albania (Wied) and Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of the Black Eagle, 18th April 1945. m. at New York City, USA, 8th September 1966, H.H. Princess Eileen, Hereditary Princess of Albania (Prinkësh i Shquipëria) (b. at Chester, England, 3rd September 1922; d. at New York, USA, 1st September 1985), widow of Captain André de Coppet, DSC, late US Army, and daughter of George Johnston, Esq., landscape gardener, by his wife, Alice, née Percival. He d.s.p. at Munich, Bavaria, 8th December 1973 (bur. Neuwied am Rhein), when this house became extinct as no arrangements were put in place for a successor.
- 1) H.H. Princess Maria Eleanora, Princess of Albania (Prinkësh i Shquipëria). b. at Potsdam, Prussia, 19th February 1909, as Princess Marie Eleanore Elisabeth Cecile Mathilde Lucie zu Wied, educ. privately. Raised to the title of Princess of Albania (Prinkësh i Shquipëria) 21st February 1914. Press & Information Officer at the British Legation, Bucharest after WW2, arrested and imprisoned with her husband by the Rumanian Communist authorities in 1950. m. (first) at Munich, Bavaria, 16th November 1937, H.S.H. Prince Alfred of Schönburg-Waldenburg (b. at Castle Droyssig, near Zeitz, Saxony, Germany, 30th October 1905; d. there while on active service, at the Military Reserve Hospital, Zeitz, 10th March 1941), Lieut in a Panzer Regt, served in WW2 1939-1941, elder son of Colonel H.S.H. Prince Heinrich of Schönburg-Waldenburg, of Droyssig and Quessnitz in Saxony and Szelejewo in Poland, sometime ADC to the Emperor of Russia, by his first wife, H.S.H. Princess Olga Amalie Wilhelmine Ernstine Marie Pauline, eldest daughter of Colonel H.S.H. Alfred Ludwig Wilhelm Leopold, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, Count of Limpurg, Princely Count of Umpfenbach, Lord of Freudenberg, Breuberg, Mondfeld, etc. m. (second) at Bucharest, Rumania, 5th February 1949, Ion Octavian Bunea (b. at GalaÅ£i, Moldavia, Rumania, 13th November 1899; d. at Muncih, Bavaraia, Germany, after 1977), arrested and imprisoned with his wife by the Rumanian Communist authorities 1950, later escaped and arrived in the UK in 1968, son of Aurelieu Bunea. She d.s.p. in a Communist internment camp at Miercurea Ciuc, Rumania, 29th September 1956.yright©Christopher Buyers
Copyright© Christopher Buyers, August 2003 - October 2011