CLASSIC CINDERELLA PRINCE WILLIAM OF WIED
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Topic: CLASSIC CINDERELLA PRINCE WILLIAM OF WIED
Posted By: ambrofos
Subject: CLASSIC CINDERELLA PRINCE WILLIAM OF WIED
Date Posted: 29 May 2010 at 06:23
Albania Classic Phantom Stamp 1914
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/">
This
stamp was prepared for the Principality of Albania in 1914 but was
never used. The man shown on the stamp is William of Wied. Outside the
country and in diplomatic correspondence, he was styled sovereign
prince, but in Albania he was referred to as mbret, or king. He was also
styled Skanderbeg II, in homage to Skanderbeg the founder of Albania. There is
such a good backstory to this stamp that I cobbled this together from
various sources for your reading pleasure.
History of the Principality of AlbaniaIn 1913,
following the second Balkan War, Albania was split among Serbia (Central
Albania), Montenegro (Northern Albania) and Greece (Southern Albania).
Austria-Hungary supported the independence of Albania whereas Russia and
Serbia rejected it.The London conference,
including representatives from Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia, France,
Germany and the United Kingdom, proclaimed on 29 July 1913 the
independence of Albania. Article 1 of the final agreement stated:
Albania shall be an [...] hereditary Principality placed under the
guarantee of the six powers. The Prince shall be appointed by the six
powers. The civil administration and
the finances were to be operated for 10 years by an international
commission representing the six powers. The military security of the
Principality was to be provided by a Gendarmerie commanded by Dutch
officers.The Wied family is a very
ancient German noble family, known since 1100. They probably originated
on the left side of the Rhine and settled down later in the Westerwald,
where they still live today. The head of the family bears the title of
hereditary prince (Fürst) since Count Johann Friedrich Alexander of
Wied-Neuwied was raised in this rank on 29 May 1784. The house lost its
sovereignty after the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815).Among the
famous members of the family are:- Count
Hermann (1477-1552), Archbishop and Elector of Cologne (1515-1547), who
introduced the Reformation in Cologne- Prince
Maximilian (1782-1867), who explored the north of Brazil on Humboldt's
trail in 1815-1817 and Northern America in 1824-1832- Princess
Elizabeth (1843-1916), Queen of Romania and a famous poetess under the
name of Carmen Sylva- Prince Wilhelm (1876-1945), Prince of
Albania from 7 March to 3 September 1914.Wilhelm of
Wied was not among the first 19 candidates to the throne, as listed by
Christian Schmitz. However, Austria-Hungary and Italy said that the
Prince had to be a Protestant in order to rule impartially the
Mahometan, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic components of the Albanian
nation. Wied was also probably proposed by Germany against
Austria-Hungary; Queen Elizabeth of Romania, née Princess of Wied, was
his aunt, and King of Romania was the German Prince Karl of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Since Germany was the least interested of the
six powers in the Balkan question, the German candidate was accepted by
the other powers.On 21 February 1914, 18
Albanian delegates representing the 18 districts of Albania came to the
castle of Neuwied and offerred the crown of their country to Prince
Wilhelm of Wied.The Prince accepted and landed
with his family in Durrës on 7 March 1914, but his rule was short and
unsuccessful. Wied was a brilliant officer but had no skills for
international diplomacy. Moreover, he lacked the promised international
political and financial support; Italy openly intrigued against him and
Germany refused to depart from strict neutrality. The Muslims in Central
Albania revolted, led by the Toptani family and its leader Essad Pasha,
and asked for the reincorporation into Turkey. Wied left Albania on 3
September 1914, one month after the beginning of the First World War. He
returned to Germany and rejoined the Imperial German Army under the
pseudonym "Count of Kruja".[6] The name derived from the city of Krujë
in Albania. When the Austro-Hungarians forced the Serbian and
Montenegrian armies out of Northern Albania in the early months of 1916,
William's hopes of being restored were raised although ultimately they
came to nothing. After the war, he still harboured ambitions that he
might be restored, but the participants at the Paris Peace Conference
were unlikely to restore to the throne someone who had just fought
against them.Although several of the
factions competing for power in postwar Albania billed themselves as
regencies for William, once central authority was definitively restored
in 1924 the country was declared a republic on January 31 1925
officially ending his reign.[7]With the
monarchy in Albania set to be restored with President Ahmet Zogu
becoming king, Prince William reaffirmed his claim to the throne
announcing he still claimed the throne for himself and his heirs.Prince
William died in Predeal, near Sinaia, in Romania leaving his son
Hereditary Prince Carol Victor as heir to his Albanian claims. He was
buried in the Lutheran church in Bucharest. These
stamps are among the few tangible remnants of his passage through
history.OZYMANDIAS
I met a traveller from an
antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of
stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk,
a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And
wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that
its sculptor well those passions read Which yet
survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand
that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the
pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king
of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing
beside remains: round the decay Of that
colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone
and level sands stretch far away.
------------- AMB
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Replies:
Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 09:43
As an aside to this story and absolutely nothing to do with stamps.
C.B. Fry was an English first class and test cricketer (1890-1921), top flight footballer, athlete (he joint held the world long jump record) and rugby player. He claimed to have been offered the throne of Albania while in Geneva (working for League of Nations) in 1920, but refused it as he he couldn't afford the train fare. He also told tall stories.
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Posted By: Daniel
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 10:41
Steve wrote:
As an aside to this story and absolutely nothing to do with stamps.
C.B. Fry was an English first class and test cricketer (1890-1921), top flight footballer, athlete (he joint held the world long jump record) and rugby player. He claimed to have been offered the throne of Albania while in Geneva (working for League of Nations) in 1920, but refused it as he he couldn't afford the train fare. He also told tall stories.
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There exists an appropriate Clerihew (a 4 line biographical poem with demented scansion and invented by E. Clerihew Bentley) which runs, from memory:
C.B.Fry
was a most self-effacing type of guy
Completely devoid of megalomania
He once turned down the throne of Albania
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Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 13:30
Can you name the English Cricketer who was also a Maharajah?
------------- AMB
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Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 01 June 2010 at 06:43
ambrofos wrote:
Can you name the English Cricketer who was also a Maharajah?
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Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, Maharajah Jam Saheb of Nawanag
(i cheated and used Google though)
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Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 13:35
Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadeja - Jadeja , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharaja - Maharaja
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam_Sahib - Jam
Sahib of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawanagar - Nawanagar (10 September 1872 - 2 April 1933)
(known as K.S. Ranjitsinhji, Ranji or Smith during
his career) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._S._Ranjitsinhji#cite_note-crirpro-0 - [1]
was an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India - Indian
King and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_cricket - Test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket - cricketer
who played for the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_cricket_team - English cricket team http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._S._Ranjitsinhji#cite_note-1 - [2]
. He also played http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-class_cricket - first-class cricket for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cambridge - Cambridge University , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_cricket - county cricket for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_County_Cricket_Club - Sussex .
Ranji is widely regarded as one of the greatest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batsman - batsmen of all time, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._S._Ranjitsinhji#cite_note-prince-2 - [3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Cardus - Neville Cardus describing him as "the Midsummer night's
dream of cricket". Unorthodox in technique and with fast reactions, he
brought a new style to batting and revolutionised the game. Previously
batsmen generally pushed forward; Ranji took advantage of the improving
pitches of the time and relied on a back and across defensive stroke and
played elegant strokes off the back foot in attack. He had a strong
late cut and is noted for his popularisation or invention of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_glance - leg glance . The first-class cricket tournament
in India, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranji_Trophy - Ranji Trophy , was named in his honour and
inaugurated in 1935 by the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharaja_Bhupinder_Singh - Maharaja Bhupinder
Singh of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patiala - Patiala .
Outside cricket, Ranji became http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharaja - Maharaja
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam_Sahib - Jam
Sahib of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawanagar - Nawanagar in 1907; was Chancellor of the Indian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_of_Princes - Chamber of Princes ; and represented India at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations - League of Nations . His official title was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel - Colonel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highness - H. H.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri - Shri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight - Sir
Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCSI - GCSI , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire - GBE . His nephew http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duleepsinhji - Duleepsinhji achieved similar fame as a batsman
playing first-class cricket in England and for the English cricket team. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._S._Ranjitsinhji#cite_note-crirpro-0 - [1]
------------- AMB
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Posted By: Hilary
Date Posted: 02 June 2010 at 21:52
Why is it that so many threads of this forum end up at cricket? Is there a synergy?
I worked with someone whose mother-in-law was a minor member of the Albanian royal family, so I suppose that made her an even more minor member!
------------- With a memory full of ships, and seas, and perilous headlands, and the shining Pharos, he must apply his long sighted eyes to the petty niceties of drawing. - Robert Louis Stevenson
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Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 03 June 2010 at 06:55
Hilary wrote:
Why is it that so many threads of this forum end up at cricket? |
Live and learn Grasshopper.
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Posted By: Daniel
Date Posted: 01 January 2018 at 09:50
Here are 2 of the seven stamps that were prepared for use but not issued. In 2014 Albania issued a set of 4 postage stamps in Wied's (Vidi in Albanian) honour marking the centenary of his monarchy having previously issued a pair of stamps in 2004. In 2008 a postage stamp was issued to mark the 80th anniversary of King Zog. So, Albania has now embraced its Royal past.
https://flic.kr/p/EXh4Bm" rel="nofollow"> https://flic.kr/p/EXh4Bm" rel="nofollow - Prince wied by https://www.flickr.com/photos/101603119@N05/" rel="nofollow - Spicer57 , on Flickr
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Posted By: Panterra
Date Posted: 15 January 2018 at 23:18
A few more values of the seldom-seen Prince William set.
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