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Queen Geraldine, the last Queen of Albania, was born on this day in 1915. Born Countess Géraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, she was a daughter of Hungarian Count Gyula and American Countess Gladys Apponyi de Nagy-Appony and grew up at the family estates in Eastern Europe. She worked as a shorthand typist and in the gift shop of the Budapest National Museum when she met King Zog of Albania in 1937. Within weeks, the couple were engaged, and the “White Rose of Hungary” married her King in 1938. They had one son, Prince Leka, and days later were forced to flee after the Italian Invasion of Albania. The family spent the next few decades in England, Egypt, Spain, Rhodesia, South Africa, and France, where King Zog died in 1961. In 2002, Queen Geraldine was finally allowed to return to Albania, where she died later that year, and was buried in full honours.

Click HERE to learn about her Diamond Tiara, HERE about her Sapphire Goat Tiara, and HERE about her grandson’s wedding.