Royal Profile: King Simeon II of Bulgaria

King Simeon II of Bulgaria was born on 16 June 1937 as the son of King Boris III & Queen Ioanna of Bulgaria {Source}. He has one sister, who has been married three separate times, and has :

  

1. Princess Maria Louisa of Bulgaria (1933)
1. Prince Karl of Leiningen (m. 1957-1968, div)
1. Prince Karl Boris Frank Markwart of Leiningen (1960)
1. Millena Manov (1962-2015, m. 1987-1996, div)
1. Prince Nicholas of Leiningen (1991)
2. Cheryl Riegler (1962, m. 1998)
1. Prince Karl Heinrich of Leiningen (2001)
2. Princess Juliana Elizabeth Maria of Leiningen (2003)
2. Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen (1963)
1. Deborah Cully (m. 1987)
1. Princess Tatiana of Leiningen (1989)
2. Princess Nadia of Leiningen (1991)
3. Princess Alexandra of Leiningen (1997)
2. Bronislaw Tomasz Andrzej Chrobok (1933, m. 1969)
1. Princess Alexandra Nadejda Maria Chrobok of Koháry (1970)
1. Jorge Champalimaud Raposo de Magalhães (1970, m. 2001)
1. Luís Wincenty Chrobok Raposo de Magalhães (2003)
2. Giovanna Chrobok Raposo de Magalhães (2006)
3. Clémentine de Magalhães (2011)
2. Prince Pawel Alastair Antoni Chrobok of Koháry (1972)
1. Ariana Oliver Mas
1. Princess Maya Chrobok of Koháry (2015)
2. Prince Alexander Ferdinand Chrobok of Koháry (2017)

 

Following his birth, Boris III sent an air force officer to the River Jordan to obtain water for Simeon's baptism in the Orthodox faith{Source}.

He became tsar on 28 August 1943 on the death of his father {Source} 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{Source}. In 1946, a referendum forced King Simeon II, his sister Princess Maria Luisa and the Queen Mother Giovanna to leave Bulgaria{Source}. Without abdicating, the young King was to spend long years of exile{Source}The family settled first in Alexandria, Egypt. The choice was not accidental. The Italian King Victor Emmanuel III, the father of the Queen Mother Giovanna, lived there in exile.

Simeon II was enrolled at the Victoria College in Egypt{Source}. In July 1951, the Spanish Government granted asylum to the exiled Bulgarian royal family{Source}. In Madrid, Simeon II graduated from the Lycée Français and read law and political sciences{Source}. In 1958-1959 he enrolled at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College in the United States, where he graduated as second lieutenant{Source}.

In 1962 Simeon II married a Spanish aristocrat, Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela{Source}.
Together, they have five children, five children-in-law, and several grandchildren:

1. Kardam, Prince of Tarnovo, Duke of Saxony (1962-2015)
1. Miriam de Ungría y López
1. Prince Boris of Bulgaria, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Tarnovo (1997)
2. Prince Beltrán of Bulgaria (1999)
2. Prince Kyril, Prince of Preslav, Duke of Saxony (1964)
1. María del Rosario Nadal y Fuster-Puigdórfila (m. 1989)
1. Princess Mafalda-Cecilia of Bulgaria (1994)
2. Princess Olimpia of Bulgaria (1995)
3. Prince Tassilo of Bulgaria (2002)
3. Prince Kubrat of Bulgaria (1965)
1. Doña Carla María de la Soledad Royo-Villanova y Urrestarazu (m. 1993)
1. Prince Mirko of Bulgaria (1995)
2. Prince Lukás of Bulgaria(1997)
3. Prince Tirso of Bulgaria(2002)
4. Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin, Duke of Saxony (1967)
1. Doña María García de la Rasilla y Gortázar (m. 1994)
1. Prince Umberto of Bulgaria (1999)
2. Princess Sofia of Bulgaria (1999)
5. Kalina, Princess of Bulgaria, Duchess of Saxony (1972)
1. Antonio "Kitín" Muñoz y Valcárcel (m. 2002)
2. Simeon Hassan Muñoz (2007)