Hélène was the illegitimate daughter of Robert of Anjou, who was the King of the Kingdom of Naples.

When Hélène came of age, her father, Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, sent her to marry a French gentleman of Greece, possibly Bertrand de Baux, the Bailli of Morea, or the Prince of Morea, as part of a political alliance.

[13][14][15][16][17] However, some sources identify him as Tanush Thopia, leading to conflicting accounts about the precise identity and name of her Albanian noble husband.

[21] Angered by Hélène’s marriage to Thopia instead of the French nobleman he had intended for her, King Robert invited the couple to Naples under the pretense of reconciliation, only to deceitfully have them both executed upon their arrival for what he considered their dishonorable actions.

[22][23][24][25][26][27] Their sons fled to Albania, escaping the fate of their parents, and were raised in the Fortress of Krujë, where Karl, driven by a desire to avenge their deaths, led a rebellion in 1358, overthrowing the last descendants of the Counts of Zante.