Leka Zogu | Tried to rule Albania, 72

Leka Zogu, 72, whose father served as Albania's king until it was occupied by fascist Italy, and who twice returned home from exile to try to claim the throne himself, died Wednesday of a heart attack at Mother Teresa Hospital in Tirana.

Mr. Zogu's father, King Ahmet Zog, was this small Balkan country's first and only post-independence monarch, reigning from 1928 to 1939, when he fled after Albania was occupied by Italian forces.

The king died in France in 1961 and is buried at the Thiais Cemetery near Paris, but the exiled royal family always insisted that Mr. Zogu was the country's legitimate ruler.

Born just two days before Albania was occupied in 1939, Mr. Zogu spent most of his life in exile in Europe and Africa while his country was ruled by communists who abolished the monarchy in 1946 and banned contact with the outside world.

After Albania's communist regime fell in 1990, Mr. Zogu made two disastrous attempts to return home - being thrown out during the first in 1993 and charged with leading an armed uprising during the second in 1997.

Mr. Zogu finally settled in Albania in 2002, leading a quiet life with his Australian wife and son but never relinquishing his claim to the throne. The royal family's official website listed his interests as "arms, shooting, reading and history." - AP