King Simeon's Birthday will be a summit for the Balkan Royal Families

Their Majesties King Simeon II and Queen Margarita of the Bulgarians

The third King of the Bulgarians, since gaining independence from the Ottomans, will celebrate his 80th birthday on 16th in his home country.

His Majesty Tsar Simeon II expects members of European Royal Families at the Vrana Palace. He also invited representatives of the Bulgarian administration and collaborators of the former parliamentary group of the NMSS (National Movement Simeon II, later renamed to National Movement for Stability and Prosperity), and the ministers from his government, which he headed between 2001 and 2005, public figures, former political partners, business representatives.

King Simeon II and Princess Maria Luisa of Bulgaria

Almost the whole family of Tsar Simeon and Queen Margarita will be present for the anniversary. The sister of the King, Princess Maria Luisa of Bulgaria, has already arrived from the United States. The King's children and grandchildren will arrive a day before the jubilee . The last time they gathered in Vrana was ten years ago, when the family celebrated the 70th birthday of Tsar Simeon II. Missing will be Prince Tirso - Prince Kubrat and Princess Karla's son, who will sit in exams when his grandfather turns 80. On the same day, their son Prince Lucas, who is a medical student, has an important test and will miss the family celebrations.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister and the US president

In January this year, His Majesty sent letters to the royal families in Europe, informing them that he had to limit the guest list for his birthday party. However, he invited he heads and heirs of the royal families in the Balkans. This is also due to the fact that the possible presence of royal couples of active monarchies would involve Bulgarian state bodies and require tightened security measures at the state level. Due to historic misfortunes the King's birthday reception has to be private. Unlike in Bulgaria's neighboring countries, where the royal families work together with the higher state institutions in such cases, and could expect police protection there is no such practice in today's Bulgaria.

Among the guests from abroad will be Crown Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and Prince Radu of Romania, Crown Prince Alexander (II) of Serbia and Princess Katharina of Serbia, Prince Nikola of Montenegro, Crown Prince Leka II of the Albanians with his wife Princess Elijah, and Prince Osman Salahhdin Osmanoglu - a direct descendant of the Turkish sultans Murad V and Mehmed V.

From Spain, Queen Sofia and her sister Princess Irine of Greece and Denmark will take part. King Juan Carlos, who will also turn 80 years old in seven months, will not be able to attend. The Austrian Archduchess Elena will also join the celebrations the anniversary. Also expected is Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who is the dean of the extended Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family. He will fly in with a special plane directly from the German city of Coburg.

Among the guests will be Prince Tusun of Egypt, who was a classmate of Tsar Simeon II in the famous Victoria College in Alexandria. Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, who was foreign minister of the Czech Republic, will be absent.. He is the peer of the King and his close friend. Unfortunately, he will not be able to attend, due to the fact that on 16th June, national celebrations commence for the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Schwarzenberg dynasty in Bohemia. Their Majesties, King Harald V and Queen Sonia of Norway, who have visited all provinces in the country for their 80th anniversary earlier in 2017, have already sent their excuses.

Their Majesties King Simeon II and King Juan Carlos I

On 16th June, a church service of Thanksgiving will take place at the "St. Alexander Nevski" cathedral, headed by His Holiness Neophyte, the Patriarch of Bulgaria and the Highly Reputed Metropolitans of the Holy Synod.

Bulgarian Crown Prince Kardam has passed away

Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Kardam (2nd December 1962 - 7th April 12015) and Crown Princess Miriam (*2nd September 1963)

 His Royal Highness Crown Prince Kardam of Bulgaria, Prince of Turnovo, has passed away. He died today at 11.30am after a lung infection  in the hospital of Sanchinarro, a suburb of Madrid. He was born on 2nd December 1962 as the eldest child of King Simeon II and Queen Margarita of the Bulgarians.

On 11 July 1996, Crown Prince Kardam married Doña Miriam de Ungría y López

In 1996 he married Doña Miriam Ungria. The couple has two children, Prince Boris (*12th October 1997 in Madrid) and Prince Beltrán (*23th March 1999). Prince Boris is Bulgaria's new Crown Prince.

On 15th August 2008 Crown Prince Kardam and his wife suffered severe injuries in a car accident in a Madrid suburb. The Crown Prince suffered cranial fractures and lost both hands. His accompanying wife, Crown Princess Miriam, suffered several bone fractures, but her life is not in danger. For several months the Crown Prince was in a come and after he finally regained conscience he remained paralysed and was unable to talk.


His parents, his wife and two of his brothers, Prince Kiril and Prince Konstantin were with his, when he passed away.

Our deepest sympathies go to the Bulgarian Royal Family, which suffered another blow.
R.I.P

Bulgaria's Royal Family gathered to celebrate King Simeon II's 70 birthday in 2007

Queen Sofía of Spain rushed to the Bulgarian Royal Family to pay her respect to the deceased Crown Prince.

Queen Sofìa embraces King Simeon II.

A Royal summit in Serbia

The website of the Serbian Royal Family is certainly one of the best of a royal dynasty – easy access, accurate and well up-to-date. Of special significance are the photos displayed on the website. All living Balkan Kings (with the exception of King Leka I of the Albanians) posed for a photo: HM King Simeon II of the Bulgarians (*16th June 1937), HRH Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia (*17th July 1945), HM King Michael I of Romania (*25th October 1921) and HM King Constantine II of the Hellenes (*2nd June 1940).

On 17th September Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine celebrated their 25th wedding. Among the guests were among others Their Majesties King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes, King Simeon and Queen Margarita of the Bulgarians, King Michael of Romania, Their Royal Highnesses Crown Princess Margarita and Prince Radu of Romania, Their Royal Highnesses Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg, Princess Irene of Greece, Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiöld of Sweden and Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld, Princess Margarita of Baden, Their Serene Highnesses Prince Philipp Erasmus and Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein and Her Serene Highness Princess Ira von Fürstenberg.

Crown Prince Kardam and his wife Miriam

Bulgarian Crown Prince severely injured in car crash

The eldest son of the Bulgarian King Simeon II (71), Crown Prince Kardam (46) was severely injured in a car crash on 15th August. The car accident happended in a Madrid suburb. The Crown Prince suffered cranial fractures and lost both hands. He was flown by helicopter to the Madrid clinic 12 de Octubre. His accompanying wife, Crown Princess Miriam, suffered several bone fractures, but her life is not in danger.
King Simeon and Queen Margarita of the Bulgarians

The couple has two sons, Prince Boris and Prince Beltrán, and lives in Spain, were King Simeon had been in exile until he returned to Bulgaria as the country's Prime Minister.
Outside the Madrid clinic: Queen Margarita of the Bulgarians with her sons, Prince Konstantin, Prince Kubrat and Prince Kyril.

King Simeon as EU-president?
This weekend Spanish news reported about the possibility of King Simeon II of the Bulgarians becoming the EU's first permanent president.(http://www.monarquiaconfidencial.com/pg_Articulo.aspx?IdObjeto=301). The King who in 1943 succeeded his father, Tsar Boris III, to the throne and who has also served his country as Prime Minister (2001/05) is a potential candidate like Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair or former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
Should the new treaty of Lisbon which was signed in December 2007 in the Portuguese capital be ratified this year by all 27 EU members by 1st January 2009 a permanent “EU president” will replace the rotating presidency. So far, every half a year one EU member state assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).

The person holding the new office will be appointed by the European Council for a term of 30 months, with the possibility of a second term.

More than any politician King Simeon II of the Bulgarians would be qualified to hold this office. As a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg he is related to all European Royal Houses, he speaks seven languages fluently, is above party lines and had experienced the political bargaining business when he was Bulgarian Prime Minister.

Above all: The King’s candidacy could be the only way to prevent the EU going irreversibly the republican way.

The Treaty of Lisbon is essentially a constitution for a "country" called Europe, although the EU Constitution was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Despite these facts British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, insisted that the Treaty of Lisbon was shorn of all constitutional content and that it preserved key aspects of British sovereignty.

The Christian Science Monitor in its March 24, 2008 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0324/p09s01-coop.html said:
“With its flag, anthem, currency, institutions, regulations, and directives, the EU has long been indistinguishable from a nation-state-in-waiting. Now the Lisbon Treaty gives it those requisites of nationhood it's always lacked: a president, a foreign minister (and diplomatic corps), a powerful new interior department, a public prosecutor and full treaty-making powers. Add to those its common system of criminal justice, an embryonic federal police force, and the faintly sinister-sounding European Gendarmerie Force, and what this union becomes is a monolithic state with great power pretensions. Most alarmingly, though, is that the Lisbon Treaty can be extended indefinitely without recourse to further treaties or referendums.”

All hopes rest in the King – as so often.

"Many people say the Queen is German, but as a percentage, how German actually is she?"

Strange questions are asked on the internet. The headline above was one of them. A simplistic answer could name all her ancestors and separate them into different nationalities. But this would be nonsense, because the Royal Families of Europe are all related to each other. None of them "belongs" to a particular nation, but all serve the nations they were put in with dedication and passion.

How many generation do you have to live in a country to be recognized as a "native"? Nationalism is a comparatively new concept that came with the French Revolution and has been poisoning international relations ever since.

Kings of the House of Hanover ascended the British throne in 1714, the last direct descendent of the Hanoverian Kings was Queen Victoria who married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Nobody would deny that Queen Victoria was as British as you can get - an era was named after her. The British Empire was mainly created during her reign and reached its greatest extent under her grandson, King George V. Who would deny the services rendered to the British people by these Monarchs? And even the undoubtedly German Prince Albert wholeheartedly dedicated his life to his new country. He became the advocate of Britain's industrialisation, most notably through his dynamic support and work for the 1851 International Exposition, the benefits of which continue to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum and Royal Albert Hall.

The British Royal Family - and especially Her Majesty - are considered as the living symbols of "Britishness" abroad, strangely enough this is put in doubt by some British nationalists who call them "German". I never noticed that speaking in "Best Queen's English" meant speaking it with a German accent.

Should the nationalists' concept apply to everyone, no migrants or their descendents since the early 18th century would ever stand a chance to be called British, neither the Conservative politicians Michael Portillo and Michael Howard, who are second generation migrants, nor any migrant from the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbeans or Africa. And the only “true” Australians would be the Aboriginal people. All settlers who came after 1788 could never gain the status of “legitimate” citizens if the concept that the die-hard British nationalists try to impose on our Royal Family was applied to the vast majority of the Australians.

Monarchs have served their respective countries very well. The Russian Tsaritsa Catherine the Great was neither born in Russia nor was she a Romanov, yet she was a moderniser of the Russian Empire and her image has been experiencing a renaissance in recent years. That is equally true for "imported" Monarchs in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece or Norway, to name only the best known examples.

The same concept applies for the Queen of Australia, who also holds the office of Queen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Papua-New Guinea, and other countries. As a Monarch she is neither a citizen of the UK nor of any other of her realms. A Monarch not only is above party lines, but also above borders and frontiers. THAT is globalisation at its best. I want to see more of a world wide co-operation like this one that benefits the peoples of the Commonwealth.