Susan, Crown Princess of Albania (''née'' Susan Barbara Cullen-Ward, formerly Williams; 28 January 1941 – 17 July 2004) was the Australian-born wife of Leka, Crown Prince of Albania. Her husband, known as King Leka, had been proclaimed King of the Albanians by the anti-communist Albanian

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile u ...

in 1961, upon the death of his father King Zog. Meanwhile,

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

itself was a communist republic.

Early life

Susan Cullen-Ward was born in the Sydney suburb of Waverley. Her mother was Phyllis Dorothea Murray-Prior and her father was Alan Robert Cullen-Ward, a

pastoralist Pastoralist may refer to: * Pastoralism, raising livestock on natural pastures * Pastoral farming, settled farmers who grow crops to feed their livestock * People who keep or raise sheep, sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the r ...

. Susan Cullen-Ward was a great-granddaughter of the Queensland politician

Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior (13 November 1819 – 31 December 1892) was a pastoralist and politician in the colony of Queensland, now a state of Australia. He held the office of Postmaster-General in Queensland, Australia, whilst Member of the Q ...

(1819–1892). Cullen-Ward grew up on her father's sheep station. She attended Presbyterian Ladies' College at Orange, then studied at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now known as the TAFE New South Wales Sydney Institute, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education i ...

before teaching art at a private studio. She was married to Richard Williams from 1965 to 1970. Susan Cullen-Ward was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Marriage to the Crown Prince of Albania

Susan Cullen-Ward met Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, the only child of King Zog I of the Albanians, at a dinner party in Sydney. In October 1975, they married in a

civil ceremony A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performed ...

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

, France. The couple were later married in a religious ceremony in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Australian authorities refused to recognise her as a queen but, in a compromise when Andrew Peacock was foreign minister, issued a passport in the name of "Susan Cullen-Ward, known as Queen Susan". She lived a turbulent life after marrying Leka, as they moved from one country to another, having no permanent residence or fixed point of reference. In the first few years of their marriage, the couple lived in Spain. They later settled in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(now known as

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

). After a falling out with the government of Robert Mugabe, the couple moved again, this time to South Africa where their son, Leka, was born in 1982. She also had a stillborn daughter while resident in Rhodesia.

Death

The Crown Princess of Albania died of lung cancer on 17 July 2004 in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, Albania. After her death, she lay in state in a chapel outside Tirana. She is buried next to her mother-in-law, Queen Geraldine, her husband, Crown Prince Leka, and his father, whose body was reburied in 2012.

Sources

*
''The Age'', 19 July 2004 – A royal dream dies

Obituary, The Scotsman
* "Leka's queen, if not Albania's", The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July 2004 * "Would-be Queen Susan dies uncrowned", The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 July 2004 * "Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol. I, Europe & Latin America", Burkes Publishing Co., 1977, * Histoire de l'Albanie et de sa maison royale (5 volumes), Patrice Najbor – JePublie – Paris – 2008 * La dynastie des Zogu, Patrice Najbor – Textes & Pretextes – Paris – 2002 * Monarkia Shqiptare 1928–1939, Qendra e Studimeve Albanologjike & Instituti i Historisë, Botimet Toana, Tirana, 2011

References

External links

Official website of the Albanian Royal Court
{{DEFAULTSORT:Susan 1941 births 2004 deaths People from the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) Australian people of English descent House of Zogu Albanian royalty Albanian nobility Deaths from lung cancer in Albania Australian Anglicans