Albanian queen flees to Greece

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April 7, 1939

The half-American Queen Geraldine of Albania and her two-day-old son have arrived in Greece, and are now safe. The Queen, who is 23-years-old, left Tirana in a car after the Italians began bombarding the Albanian coast.

The Albanian Legation in Athens has said that the Queen, who was accompanied by two ladies in waiting, is in Florina, near the Yugoslav border, where "there is no inn that can boast more than the most primitive comfort," reports the Chicago Daily Tribune. If the queen's health permits, she and her son will travel to Salonika by car, and then board a train to Athens. An Athens doctor, Alexander Luros, has left Athens and is en route to Salonika to see the queen. But if she is unable to travel, he will drive to Florina to treat her.

The Queen, who married King Zog last April in Tirana, is the daughter of Gladys Virginia Stewart of New York and Count Julius Nagy-Apponyi, a member of a respected noble Hungarian family. She met King Zog when she won a beauty contest in Budapest.

Hungarian officials had hoped that the wedding would bring about closer ties among Hungary, Albania, and Italy. At the time of the marriage, Albania and Italy were allies.

King Zog remains in Albania.