wied

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, 26^th 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, 5^th 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 3^rd 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 23^rd November 1913 and formally informed of his selection, following ratification by the provisional Albanian government at Vlora, 3^rd December 1913. He formally accepted signified his consent in writing to the British, Russian and French Ambassadors in Berlin, 6^th 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, 21^st February 1914. Arrived at Durazzo and took up residence at the Konak, 7^th March 1914. He left the country after the withdrawal of the Great Powers and the stoppage of the subsidies from France and Italy, 3^rd 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, 26^th 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 1^st class of Prussia (25.2.1914), Knt of the Johanniter Order, Knt 3^rd class of the Order of the Prussian Crown, Knt’s Cross of the Order of Military Merit 5^th class without crown of Bulgaria, Zentar Medal, 1914/18 War Cross of Honour of Germany (1934), and the Carol I 40^th Anniversary Jubilee (1906), Carol II Reign Anniversary (1934), Carol I Centenary (1939) medals of Rumania, etc. m. at Waldenburg, Saxony, 30^th November 1906, H.H. Sofia, Princess of Albania (Mbretëreshë i Shquipëria) (b. at Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, 21^st May 1885; d. at Fântânele Castle, PaÅŸcani, Moldavia, Rumania, 3^rd 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, 18^th 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, 19^th 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 21^st 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, 18^th April 1945. m. at New York City, USA, 8^th September 1966, H.H. Princess Eileen, Hereditary Princess of Albania (Prinkësh i Shquipëria) (b. at Chester, England, 3^rd September 1922; d. at New York, USA, 1^st 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, 8^th 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, 19^th 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) 21^st 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, 16^th November 1937, H.S.H. Prince Alfred of Schönburg-Waldenburg (b. at Castle Droyssig, near Zeitz, Saxony, Germany, 30^th October 1905; d. there while on active service, at the Military Reserve Hospital, Zeitz, 10^th 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, 5^th February 1949, Ion Octavian Bunea (b. at GalaÅ£i, Moldavia, Rumania, 13^th 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, 29^th September 1956.yright©Christopher Buyers

*The title and style used for the Prince in Albanian was Mbret (King or Emperor) and Madheri (Majesty), the same terms previously used for the Ottoman Sultan.

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