• Royals.Simeon of Bulgaria, the only king in the world to stand for election
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In the 19th century, Coburg were referred to as the stallions of Europe. The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a German dynasty, was very adept at practicing matrimonial diplomacy, much more effective than the military offensive. And, thus, Coburg princes were seated in almost all the thrones of the continent. Most of them were tall, blond, and handsome. No marriageable princess or queen - let it be said to the great victory of England - was disgusted to marry one of them.

Today Coburgos and his descendants remain on the reigning thrones of countries such as the United Kingdom or Belgium. And Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is Simeon II (83 years old), the last king - or tsar as they say - of the Bulgarians. We are before one of the most famous throneless monarchs in our country; not in vain has he lived in exile here for half a century. And their children and grandchildren confirm that the genes of the dynasty remain just as blessed.

Simeon II maintains his title of king and the treatment of Majesty, although it costs him much less to have it applied with gusto abroad, where he is highly valued, than in his native country, where the bulk of the political class is determined to erase all monarchical vestige. In fact, in recent times Simeon has waged a bloody battle to try to keep his last possessions in Bulgaria and complains bitterly of seeing himself on the verge of having to start a new "exile" in the last season of his life.

After the fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria in 1990, his former royal family regained many of their properties: palaces, castles and huge tracts of land and forests. These were the goods that the ancestors of Simeon II had acquired over the decades from their own pockets. But successive Bulgarian governments and parliamentarians have not stopped lawsuits until they get the Justice to approve the nationalization of almost all these properties.

Wedding of Simeon from Bulgaria and Margarita Gomez-Acebo.EM

However, the great blow for the king without a throne came two years ago, when in that unstoppable offensive, the Municipal Court of Sofia also suppressed its rights over the Palace of Vrana - acquired by Fernando I, our protagonist's grandfather, in 1899- , which is the residence of the kings Simeon and Margarita since they decided to settle in their country. "I often keep asking myself if I deserve to be deprived of my home and to be forced to leave my homeland, " the former monarch said bitterly at the time, who now trusts everything to the appeals presented and what the European courts might even say.

Simeon II was crowned tsar at the age of six, following the sudden death in 1943 of his father, Boris III, following an interview with Hitler. It is still unknown whether the monarch was poisoned by the Nazi leader. In the name of the boy, his uncle Cyril reigned as regent, who was executed in 1945 by the Soviets, who invaded the country. Simeon and his sister, Princess María Luisa, along with their mother, Queen Juana, were forced to go into exile. Spain would become the second homeland for the dethroned monarch.

Already at the beginning of the century, after the disintegration of the USSR and the fall of the socialist regimes in Europe, Simeon took what is undoubtedly a mortal leap for any king: to get into politics. And, taking advantage of the great popularity that the royal family maintained despite so many decades of communist propaganda, Simeon, with the recovered Bulgarian nationality and the adoption of the non-aristocratic surnames of Borisov Saxkoburggotsky, became Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 2001, after prevail in legislative elections.

Few cases exist in the history of kings involved in politicians. Weeks ago, imitating Simeon, the king of Manipur did it in India, who has won his seat in the Parliament of New Delhi. The Bulgarian has ended up weighing his decision, although he does not regret it. Because, although during his tenure the country achieved such important milestones as joining NATO or signing the EU membership, after leaving the government he has been unable to make the Bulgarians see in him a national asset for his privileged position as king.

With envy he has seen these years how in some neighboring nations, such as Romania, Montenegro or even Albania, their former monarchs recovered an institutional status. Instead, the Tsar who reigned as a child wants to snatch even his home.

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