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Tsar Simeon II

Introduction

Simeon was born to Boris III and Giovanna of Italy on 16 June 1937 in Sofia Bulgaria. He is the only son of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria and Princess of Italy, Giovana. His elder sister is Princess Marie Louise who born four years earlier. During the Second World War, Simeon joined Axis Power but he was proved less amiable. He was descended to throne in the age of six after the death of his father. His father came back after meeting Hitler and died of heart attack As soon as Tsar was appointed to throne, his uncles Prince Kyril, and Nikola Mikhov were appointed as his regents. As Bulgaria has joined the Axis Power during World War, II but managed to perceive certain diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, in 1944, Stalin declared war and after short time span of three days the Red Army entered realms of the country without facing any kind of resistance. On 9 Sep 1944, Prince Kyril along with his other regents was deposed and arrested by the Soviet Backed coup. The Royal family, queen, son and daughter stayed at Vrana Palace near Sofia taking into account that three more regents were appointed. It was 16 Sept 1944 when Simeon along with his family was doomed to exile from Bulgaria; however, Simeon never signed any abduction paper, not at the age when he was unable to sign and not at any other time in his life. Simeon completed his college education from Victoria College when they stayed with the father of his mother Queen Giovanna at Alexandria where lived in exile. Sameon studied at Lycee Francais in Madrid but he did not graduate. (Aanmoen, et, al. 2018). On turning 18, Simeon read his proclamation to the people of Bulgarian people and represented himself as Tsar of Bulgaria, asserting his will that he is the king of Bulgarians, following the principles of Tarnovo Constitution and he has come with an ambition to free Bulgaria. In 1958, he got himself enrolled at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in the United States. In the college, he was named as, “Cadet Rylski No, 6883” and graduated as a second lieutenant. He went to Spain and studied business administration and law. After that, he became a businessman. He worked as a chairman of Spanish subsidiary for thirteen years which was a French defense and electronics group. He also worked as an advisor in hotel, banking, electronics, and catering sectors. Simeon married a Spanish aristocratic Dona Margarita on January 21, 1962. The couple had five children, four sons, and a daughter. All of Simeon children were then married to Spaniards, taking into account that all his sons had Bulgarians name as well as his daughter got a Bulgarian name. After the death of Simoen’s cousin in Prince Johannes Heinrich, in April 2010, Simeon became the Head of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohary. In accordance with a statement that was published on May, 2015 Bulgarian Patriarchy announced Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to be king of Bulgaria. It is asserted, if Simeon lived till 2024, he will become one of the longest-lived head of state in Bulgarian history at 87 years. (Aanmoen, et, al. 2018).

Simoen as a political leader

In 1990, after the fall of communism, Simeon was issued a Bulgarian passport in 1996. After fifty years of the abolition of the monarchy, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and met his natives merely. As soon as he met ex-Communist Party, all his monarchist sentiments disappeared, leading to a coalition as a leader of NMSP. A number of states that have been nationalized during the communist era were returned to Simeon. In 2001, Simeon took the name, Simeon Borisov Saxe-Conurg-Gotha, asserting that he would return to Bulgaria in order to form a new political party, termed as, National Movement Simeon II. He aimed at bringing reforms and political integrity, taking into account that Simeon promised that within the time span of 800 days, people of Bulgaria would feel tangible and positive effects of the government and they could enjoy high standards of living.

In 2001, NMSP won a large victory in the parliamentarian elections, addressing 120 out of 240 seats defeating two main political parties. On July, 24, Simeon took oath as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, formulating coalition with a Turkish party named as Movement for Right and Freedom. Technocrats were given main government positions along with Western-educated economic specialist. It was 2002 when untiring efforts of Simeon made Bulgaria join NATO, receiving the Path to peace Award from the foundation, Path to peace. In the elections of 2005, Simeon’s party was ranked second and participated in the grand coalition that was led by Bulgarian Socialist Party and it included the movement for Freedom and Rights. It is significant to note that Simeon was given unofficial ceremonial post of Chairman of the Coalition Council. By 2005, Simeon had completed 4-year terms of his office and it was the first post-communist cabinet that ended its mandate with the support of improved public approval. Although there were many ideological differences with BSP, still Simeon II agreed to part-take the coalition because he realized that it was the only way the reforms could be made. The necessity of joining the European Union, paving way for Simeon to be the chairman of Coalition Council, in 2007, Bulgaria finally joined the European Union, taking into account that the coalition government achieved very little. (Ivanova, et, al. 2006).

The European nation was plagued with a high level of corruption, concqumetly elections in 2009, NMSII secured 3.01% votes. It was the time that Simeon resigned from his party’s leadership. In 2010, he became the Head of the House of Sexe-Coburg and Goth-Kohary. It was the same time when Siemon started to write his autobiography under the title, “Aimein II de Bulgaire, un Destin singulier” that was released on 28 October 2014. In a nutshell, it can be found that Simeon made, foreign policy reforms. It is significant to note that Simoen received a number of awards and achievements as well, the first reward was, "Path to Peace Award" from Path to Peace Foundation. Simeon was honored with "Grand Cross of the Order of Stara Planina and “Collar of the Order of Justice by the Government of Bulgaria”. (Aanmoen, et, al. 2018).

After a long journey of struggles, on May 1, 2015, Simeon II was referred to as a King of Bulgaria in all private and public places that were held in the dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In accordance with the election of prime minister of Bulgaria, Simeon II is named as one of the two monarchs who also followed democratic elections as a pathway of becoming the head of government. Fist monarch is Simeon and the other monarch was, late Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. It would not be wrong to say that Simeon is one of the great leaders who followed a detailed and analytical pathway towards success. It is significant to note that the biography of Simeon reflects him a minor figure in the royal heritage who underwent a lot of struggles to maintain the reputation he hold today. It is affirming that Simeon is a clear example of “hard work pays off", taking into account that he designed a complete story of a tragic life, accompanied by several hurdles and leading to a bright destiny.

References

"Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha." En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2007.

Aanmoen, O. (2018). Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria publishes a new book. Royal Central. Retrieved 21 April 2019, from http://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/tsar-simeon-of-bulgaria-publishes-new-book-109069

Europe’s Royals Gather for Bulgarian Tsar’s 80th. (2017). Balkan Insight. Retrieved from https://balkaninsight.com/2017/06/16/europe-s-royals-gather-for-bulgarian-tsar-s-80th-06-15-2017/

Ivanova, R. (2006). The king’s new clothes royalty–from fairy tale to reality. ETHNOLOGIA BULGARIA. Yearbook of Bulgarian Ethnology and Folklore, 3(1), 5-11.

Simeon Saxecoburggotski | prime minister and former king of Bulgaria. (2019). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Simeon-Saxecoburggotski