Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Prince Simeon as a baby

Prince Simeon of Bulgaria

Simeon was born to Boris III and Giovanna of Italy. Following his birth, Boris III sent an air force officer to the Jordan River to obtain water for Simeon's baptism in the Orthodox faith.[4] He acceded to the throne on 28 August 1943 upon the death of his father, who had just returned to Bulgaria from a meeting with Adolf Hitler.[5][6] Since Tsar Simeon was only six years old when he ascended the throne, his uncle Prince Kyril, Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, and Lt. General Nikola Mikhov of the Bulgarian Army were appointed regents.[7]

Under his father, Bulgaria had reluctantly joined the Axis powers in World War II but had managed to preserve diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Still, on 5 September 1944 Stalin declared war on Bulgaria and three days later, the Red Army entered the country without encountering resistance. On the next day, 9 September 1944, Prince Kyril and the other regents were deposed by a Soviet-backed coup and arrested. The three regents, all members of the last three governments, Parliament deputies, heads of the army and eminent journalists were executed by the Communists in February 1945.[7]

The royal family—Queen Giovanna, Simeon II, and his sister Maria-Louisa—remained at Vrana Palace near Sofia, while three new regents were appointed (Todor Pavlov, Venelin Ganev and Tsvetko Boboshevski). On 15 September 1946, a referendum was held in the presence of the Soviet army. It resulted in a 97% approval for republic and abolition of the monarchy, and the boy-king Simeon was deposed.

On 16 September 1946, the royal family was exiled from Bulgaria. The royal family first went to Alexandria, Egypt, where Queen Giovanna's father Vittorio Emanuele III, the former king of Italy, lived in exile. There, Simeon II finished Victoria College (along with Crown Prince Leka of Albania). In July 1951, General Franco's dictatorship in Spain granted asylum to the family.[8]

In Madrid, Simeon studied at the Lycée Français, but did not graduate. On 16 June 1955, upon turning 18, in accordance with the Tarnovo Constitution Simeon II read his proclamation to the Bulgarian people as the Tsar of Bulgaria, confirming his will to be king of all Bulgarians and follow the principles of the Tarnovo Constitution and free Bulgaria. In 1958, he enrolled at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in the United States, where he was known as "Cadet Rylski No. 6883",[7] and graduated as a second lieutenant. Once again in Spain (between 1959 and 1962), Simeon studied law and business administration.[9]

He became a businessman. For thirteen years, he was chairman of the Spanish subsidiary of Thomson, a French defence and electronics group. He was also an adviser in the banking, hotel, electronics, and catering sectors.

Simeon issued several political declarations during his exile through his "chancellery" in Madrid directed at the Communist regime in Bulgaria and his exiled compatriots. His early attempts at forming an official government in exile did not come to fruition, however.

On 21 January 1962, Simeon married a Spanish aristocrat, Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela. The couple have had five children – four sons (Kardam, Kiril, Kubrat and Konstantin) and a daughter, Kalina, all of whom subsequently married Spaniards.[7] All of his sons received names of Bulgarian kings, his daughter has a Bulgarian name, although only three of his eleven grandchildren have Bulgarian names (Boris, Sofia and Simeon).

• Kardam (1962 – 7 April 2015) married Miriam Ungría y López. They had two sons, Boris and Beltran.
• Kiril (born 1964) married María del Rosario Nadal y Fuster de Puigdórfila. They have two daughters, Mafalda and Olimpia, and one son, Tassilo.
• Kubrat (born 1965) married Carla María de la Soledad Royo-Villanova y Urrestarazu. They have three sons: Mirko, Lukás and Tirso.
• Konstantin-Assen (born 1967) married María García de la Rasilla y Gortázar. They have twins, Umberto and Sofia.
• Kalina (born 1972) married Antonio José "Kitín" Muñoz y Valcárcel. They have one son, Simeon Hassan Muñoz.

In 1990, just months after the fall of communism, Simeon was issued a new Bulgarian passport. In 1996, fifty years after the abolition of the monarchy, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and was met in many places by crowds cheering: "We want our King!"[10] He did not, at that point, make any political announcements or moves. However, these monarchist sentiments gradually disappeared after his premiership and specifically during his coalition as a leader of NMSP with the ex-Communist Party, together with changing of generations; since by that time the majority of voters were born after the fall of the monarchy.

Various estates in Bulgaria that had been nationalised during the Communist era were returned to Simeon and his family. In 2001, Simeon, who had by this time taken the name Simeon Borisov Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, announced he would return to Bulgaria to form a new political party, the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) (later renamed to NMSP), dedicated to "reforms and political integrity."[11] Simeon promised that in 800 days the Bulgarian people would feel tangible positive effects of his government and would enjoy significantly higher standards of living.[12]

Simeon II has never formally renounced his claim to the Bulgarian throne. He left Bulgaria without signing a formal instrument of abdication. However, since he was a minor at the time, his legal capacity to sign such a document would have been questionable at best. He used the title "Tsar of the Bulgarians" in his political statements during his exile. Since his return to Bulgaria, however, Simeon has consistently declined to reveal his views on the restoration of the Bulgarian monarchy, notwithstanding the original name of his party.[15] His triumph in the 2001 elections raised the question of a possible restoration, especially with the economic crisis, poverty, and law and order issues the country faced after the fall of communism.[16] Upon taking office as prime minister, he took an oath to protect the country's republican constitution.[17]

Simeon II criticised the Bulgarian government in 2018 after he was told to return his palace taken in 1946. The decision came at a time with rising support of a restoration of the monarchy.[18]

Simeon II wrote an autobiography in French under the title Simeon II de Bulgarie, un destin singulier that was released in Bulgaria on 28 October 2014.[19] It was first presented at the headquarters of the UNESCO in Paris on 22 October 2014.[20][21]

Simeon II in 2015

After the death of his distant cousin Prince Johannes Heinrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in April 2010 and due to the exclusion of the late prince's uncle Philipp and his descendants from his morganatic marriage with Sarah Aurelia Halasz, Simeon became the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, former magnates of Hungary and heir to the castles of Čabraď and Sv. Anton, both in modern-day Slovakia. In early 2012, he nominally ceded his rights (and those of his children) to the headship of the House and the title "Princess of Koháry" to his sister Marie Louise.[22]

• The Boy Who Was a King, a 2011 Bulgarian documentary by Andrey Paounov.
• House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

• Ramon Perez-Maura, El rey possible: Simeon de Bulgaria, Belacqua, Madrid, 2002 (ISBN 8495894238)
• Simeon II de Bulgarie, Sébastien de Courtois, Un destin singulier, Flammarion, 2014 (ISBN 9782081314672)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simeon II of Bulgaria.

• King Simeon II – Personal website
• The first website about Simeon II of Bulgaria focuses on his pre-1995 history
• Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's statement, 5 July 2002 concerning Bulgaria's candidacy for NATO membership: "The role of the international community should be gradually transformed from crisis response to integration. Palliative measures intended to mitigate yet another crisis cannot bring stability and prosperity. The best solution is the region's integration into the European and Euroatlantic institutions."
• Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's address, 10 February 2005 concerning amending the constitution to bring it in line with EU requirements, Standart