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 Leka, Crown Prince of Albania (Leka Skënder Zogu; 5 April 193930 November 2011) was the only son of King Zog I and Queen Geraldine of Albania. He was called Crown Prince Skander at birth. After his father's death in 1961, Leka was the pretende ...

. Her husband, known as King Leka, had been proclaimed

King of the Albanians The King of Albania (Albanian language, Albanian: ''Mbreti i Shqipërisë'') was a title styled by the official ruler of Albania. While the medieval Capetian House of Anjou, AngevinKingdom of Albania (medieval), Kingdom of Albania was a monarchy, ...

by the anti-communist Albanian

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

in 1961, upon the death of his father

King Zog King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

. Meanwhile,

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

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. 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 Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, then studied at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now part of TAFE NSW, 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 institutions. History The Sydney M ...

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

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Marriage to the Crown Prince of Albania

Susan Cullen-Ward met

, 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 performe ...

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) 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. It is a luxu ...

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

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Australian authorities refused to recognise her as a queen but, in a compromise when

Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the part ...

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 the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(now known as

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

). After a falling out with the government of

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

, the couple moved again, this time to South Africa where their son, Leka, was born in 1982. She also had a

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

daughter while resident in Rhodesia.

Death

The Crown Princess of Albania died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on 17 July 2004 in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, Albania. After her death, she

lay in state Lying in state is the tradition in which the body of a deceased official, such as a head of state, is placed in a state building, either outside or inside a coffin, to allow the public to pay their respects. It traditionally takes place in a m ...

in a chapel outside Tirana. She is buried at the

Mausoleum of the Albanian Royal Family The Mausoleum of the Albanian Royal Family is a building in Tirana, capital of Albania, which holds the remains of King Zog and other members of his family (House of Zogu). The original mausoleum was designed by the architect Qemal Butka, and wa ...

, 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:Cullen-Ward, Susan 1941 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Albanian people 21st-century Albanian people 20th-century Albanian women 21st-century Albanian women 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women 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 Burials at the Mausoleum of the Albanian Royal Family Leka, Crown Prince of Albania Crown princesses