Throne in Way of Romance

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7201, 26 April 1930, Page 10

Throne in Way of Romance

Zo go, King of Albania, Checks Revolt Led By Father of Jilted Fiancee.

DETERMINED revolt against King Zogu of Albania, led by the influential tribesman, Vrlati Beg, who was formerly one of the King’s

most trusted friends and who turned against him only when Zogu refused to marry Vrlati Beg’s daughter, to whom he was engaged, has been frustrated on the eve of action.

The ringleaders, including Vrlati Beg, and five chieftains who were his accomplices, were arrested at Tiskopia, Beg’s birthplace and the headquarters of his tribe. From information supplied to the police, a secret arsenal of the conspirators, containing 10,000 rifles with ammunition and explosives, was discovered at Gurel. The leaders, who had evidently studied the lesson of Afghanistan and the fall of King Amanuilah, had inspired th,eir followers with religious fervour, declaring that Zogu’s pro-

posed reform of the Constitution in Albania heralded the dawn of tyranny and an attack on the faith of their fathers.

The prompt action of the authorities had an immediate result, for no disorders have so far been reported. Vrlati’s broken friendship with Zogu is a tragedy of thwarted love, and furnishes yet another case of a king who sacrificed his passion on the altar of service to the State. Dramatic Stroke Before the march on Tirana and his dramatic seizure of power Zogu was only the chieftain of a small mountain tribe. He was engaged to be married to Vrlati’s daughter, with whom he was in love. Throughout the critical period of his presidency there was no more devoted lover than Vrlati. Zogu’s new rank, however, and the demand for public interest in this, as in other royal families, decided, the king, on his coronation; to'break off the romantic engagement in favour of a more distinguished and practical alliance. The names of many princesses were mentioned, but, owing to the present unsettled condition of Albania, the last

land of the vendetta, where no fewer than 800 blood feuds have been sworn against the king following the execution before the palace gates of a number of dangerous and powerful enemies, and the king’s failing health.

the court marriage, and with it the dream of royal alliance, has been postponed. Advisers’ Plea The king’s advisers implored him to marry an Albanian woman in order to found a dynastic basis for the peaceful development of his warring land, and it was only when the king decided against a native queen that Vrlati turned against him. ■ How would Zogu punish his old-

time friend was the question that all Albania asked when the news of the frustrated revolt began to circulate. Zogu gave a Budden and unexpected answer. With a dramatic gesture of goodwill he released Vrlati Beg unconditionally, without even the formality of a trial.

Such leniency after the king’s notorious and vindictive treatment of earlier opponents has created a great surprise throughout Albania.