The Economist writes of Princess Geraldine: Could a baby one day be a queen?

On October 22, the Albanian royal family was happy to announce the birth of Princess Geraldine. The happy parents are Leka Anwar Zog Reza Baudouin Msiziwe Zogu, or more simply Prince Leka II, who claims the throne and his wife Princess Elia, an actress. Could a baby one day be a queen?

In 1997, Albania was the only former communist state to hold a referendum on the restoration of a monarchy. One third of voters were pro. Prince Leka's father, the self-proclaimed Leka I, who returned to his homeland in 1993, marched on the election commission in Tirana, the capital, to complain about fraud. A man was killed in a subsequent gun battle.

The ruler with the longest state service that emerged after centuries of Turkish Ottoman rule was an extremely savage communist, Enver Hoxha, who ruled from the end of World War II until his death in 1985. But in the years of war was Ahmed Zogu, a tribal chief, who ruled the country. Rising from interior minister to president, he himself had been proclaimed king in 1928. But Mussolini's Italians invaded in 1939 and ousted him. He died in France in 1961.

Mbreti Zog ishte një modernizues i ashpër. Disa shqiptarë kthehen në kohën e tij me sentimentalizëm nostalgjik. Tirana, kryeqyteti, ka një statujë të Zogut dhe një Bulevard Zog. Por djali i Zogut, Leka, megjithëse i gjatë si një basketbollist, ishte më pak mbresëlënës. Lindur nga një aristokrate gjysmë-hungareze gjysmë-amerikane (e quajtur Geraldine), disa ditë para fluturimit të Zogut, ai u dërgua në Angli, Egjipt dhe Zvicër. Ai jetoi - midis vendeve të tjera - në Spanjë, Rodezinë e atëhershme dhe Afrikën e Jugut dhe u martua me një grua të divorcuar australiane. I hipnotizuar nga armët, ai shpresoi shumë për një rivendosje të mbretërisë. Në vitin 1979 ai u dëbua nga Spanja për rregulloret e armëve. Djali i tij i vetëm lindi në Afrikën e Jugut. Në 2002-shin parlamenti post-komunist i Shqipërisë e ftoi familjen në shtëpi, duke u dhënë atyre privilegje që përfshinin pasaporta diplomatike.

Erion Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana, says Leka is "very good" for Albania's tough policy. Asked if he would like to be king, the prince says calmly with a stern South African accent that "he would like to serve in any way possible". In the "theoretical" case of a restoration of the kingdom it would be "very possible," he says, to imagine the last Geraldine being crowned queen of the Albanians.

Translated by The Economist