[December 28] Victor Emmanuel III, king of Italy

Local Name: Vittorio Emanuele
Parents: Umberto I, king of Italy, and Margherita of Savoy
Date of Birth: 11 November 1869
House: Savoy
Spouse(s): Elena, daughter of Nikola I, king of Montenegro, and Milena Vukotic
Predecessor: Umberto II
Reign: 1900 – 1946
Brief: Italy's fourth king since the peninsula's unification in the 1860s, Victor Emmanuel III was arguably one of the weakest rulers. Small in stature (barely 5 feet), he overcompensated by directly involving himself in the constitutional monarchy over which he ruled. Between 1900 and 1922, he intervened in ten separate parliamentary crises. Although at first against joining World War I, in 1915 he personally brought Italy into the Triple Entente with France, Britain, and Russia. The Italians remained staunchly against the war, but didn't hold a grudge against the king since he often visited the front lines in the north with his wife, endearing the people to the royal family. After the war, Benito Mussolini staged a march on Rome, quickly becoming prime minister and leader of the government. By 1926, Mussolini was in charge of all branches of government and pressing his fascist agenda, while Victor Emmanuel remained silent. He remained popular to the masses even though he sided with the fascists, but when he assumed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania in the late 1930s, his popularity plummeted. In 1940, Mussolini dragged Italy into World War II, and as Italy quickly lost battles, so too did Victor Emmanuel lose supporters. Three years later, Mussolini was removed from office and Italy publicly joined the Allies. The Germans swarmed into Italian conquered territories and northern Italy, forcing the king to flee south. By 1944, Victor Emmanuel had passed much of his power to his son, Umberto. Finally, in 1946, the king abdicated in the hope that the Italian monarchy would survive if he were not leading the country. It failed. Umberto II ruled for less than a month and then the family was forced into exile to Egypt. Victor Emmanuel III died in 1947 in Alexandria and was buried there.

Date of Death: 28 December 1947

Successor: Umberto II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Theonas, patriarch of Alexandria (300)
• Yoshiakira, shogun of Japan (1367)
• Clement VIII, antipope of Rome (1446)
• Piero, patriarch of Florence (1503) -
• Mary II, queen of England & Scotland (1694)
• Mustafa II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1703)

[November 30] Leka I, titular king of the Albanians

Parents: Zog I, king of the Albanians, and Géraldine Apponyi de Nagyappony
Date of Birth: 5 April 1939
House: Zogu
Spouse(s): Susan, daughter of Alan Robert Cullen-Ward and Phyllis Dorothea Murray-Prior
Predecessor: Zog

Reign: 1961 – 2011
Brief: Forced into exile only two days after his birth, Leka I was never destined to see the Albanian throne. The Italians invaded Albania in 1939, with Victor Emmanuel III proclaiming himself King of Albania, though he would come to regret the invasion later in life. He travelled around Europe in his exile, settling in England by 1940. The family moved to Egypt where Leka attended English schools, and then he studied at Aiglon College in Switzerland before passing out of Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in Britain. He became a lieutenant in the British Army then a businessman. In 1957, he was designated his father's heir, and four years later he was proclaimed King of the Albanians by the Albanian National Assembly-in-Exile. He was married in 1975 to an Australian and his reception had numerous other deposed heads of state in attendance. Fearing a communist assassination attempt on his life, Leka began gathering arms and bodyguards around himself, which prompted the Spanish government to kick him out of the country. On his flight into Africa, he ran into Albanian communists who tried to capture him but were turned away when the titular king produced an RPG launcher. He finally set up a new base in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was given diplomatic protection. After the fall of communism in Albania, Leka I returned to his homeland in 1993, renouncing his titles in exchange for citizenship. A referendum was held in 1997 to reestablish a monarchy, but the bid failed partially due to communist interference. The king left the country and was found guilty in absentia of sedition, which was pardoned two years later when 72 members of Parliament requested the royal family to return. The party that backed his family is a minority member of a coalition that had promised future referendums on monarchy. However, for Leka I, he withdrew from politics entirely in 2006 and died five years later. His son, Leka II, now heads the family's campaign for recognition.
Date of Death: 30 November 1780

Successor: Leka II

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Edmund II, king of England (1016)
• Charles XII, king of Sweden (1718)

[April 18] Vidi I Skanderbeg II, prince of Albania

True Name: Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich
Parents: William, prince of Wied, and Marie of the Netherlands

Date of Birth: 26 March 1876

House: Wied-Neuwied

Spouse: Sophie, daughter of Victor of Schönburg-Waldenburg and Lucia of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Reign: 7 March 1914 – 3 September 1914

Summary: Wilhelm began his life as the third son of a prince who ruled a small region in Germany. While his family certainly had connections, namely with the Dutch and Saxon rulers, the principality was nothing overly important. William served as a Prussian cavalry officer in the mid-1900s and became a captain in the German General Staff in 1911. Elisabeth, queen consort of Romania, brought William to the forefront when she nominated him for the position of "prince of Albania" in 1913. The country had just become independent of Ottoman control and the Great Powers were seeking to install a monarch. All of the powers agreed with Elisabeth that William would be a good fit. In November of 1913, the provisional government accepted the appointment and in February 1914, William made his acceptance of the title official. Albania was a backwater country at the time with little law and much poverty. William had originally refused the offer, but with World War I building up, the Austrians convinced him to accept it.

In March 1914, William, now Vidi I, began appointing royal ministers and forming his cabinet. He opted to choose locals for almost all positions to avoid appearing as a foreign puppet monarch. But even so, he was not able to avoid problems. Muslims revolted when he arrived, claiming foreign domination of Albania. Greece also interfered. Fearing for the native Greeks in southern Albania, Greece encouraged a secessionist movement in the south. The Greeks occupied southern Albania, which they called North Epirus, throughout Viri I's reign. The prince suffered defections from within his own government as well. His chief minister, Essad Pasha, accepted money from Italy to stage a revolt and coup against Viri. Viri arrested his minister in May and sentenced him to death, but Italy was able to force an exile instead. When World War I broke out, Austria-Hungary demanded that Albania send troops to fight for the Central Powers. When Viri refused, citing the Treaty of London, Austria cut off funds. Everything fell apart after that. Albania was in a civil war from July 1914 to the end of his reign. Viri finally abandoned the country in September and rejoined the Imperial German Army. In 1916, Austria removed troops it had sent to occupy Albania, and Viri thought he may be able to reclaim his principality, but he was not invited back. He was officially deposed in 1925 when Albania proclaimed itself a republic. When President Ahmet Zogu proclaimed himself king in 1928, Viri reaffirmed his claim to the throne but his family was never restored. His claim passed to his son, Carol Victor, when Viri died in 1945.  Carol Victor died childless in 1973 and the family's claim to Albania went extinct.

Date of Death: 18 April 1945

Successor: Carol Victor