In a highly controversial ruling, the Bulgarian Court has allowed wood-cutting in the lands belonging to the country’s former Tsar Simeon Saxe Coburg.

click to view the picture in TIME

The permission will be effective until a ban on wood-cutting, issued by the head of the State Forest Estate, comes into force.

The decision is controversial because at the beginning of October the lower court banned these activities: the ban was supposed to have immediate effect. This inexplicable twist has left senior politicians and ordinary Bulgarians both mystified and enraged. Many are talking about ‘double standards’ and question why the former Prime Minister is allowed preferential treatment.

The issue is even more divisive because Simeon Saxe Coburg’s very right of owning those lands is in question. In 2003, the Bulgarian Parliament (controlled at the time by Simeon’s party) decided to return seized assets to the Royal family; the compensations included those 450 hectares of forest lands, for which, according to some politicians and most legal experts, there was absolutely no basis. Indeed, just weeks ago several senior Bulgarian officials threatened Simeon Saxe-Coburg with court actions for the ‘disproportional compensations’.

To learn more about Royal Family of Bulgaria, visit this thread.

Marsel Bulgarian Royals Government, Scandal, Simeon II

Prince Kyrill of Bulgaria and Rosaria Nadal formally announced their separation today.

click for the announcement from Hola!

After weeks of speculations, the spokesman for the former King and Prime Minster of Bulgaria Simeon Saxe Coburg confirmed the Princes of Preslav decided to live apart for some time. The spokesman also stressed that the Princes of Preslav, who had celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary less than a month ago, do not consider divorce at the moment and will work to overcome their difficulties.

One of the possible reasons cited for separation is the busy schedule of the pair: Prince Kyrill, the second son of Simeon II and Doña Margarita, works in banking sector in London, while Rosario is equally busy with her own commitments connected with Art matters (she is a professor of History of Art). As a result, they manage to spend increasingly less time together.

Prince Kyrill (45) and Princess Rosario (41) have 3 children: Princess Mafalda-Cecilia (born in 1994), Princess Olimpia (born in 1995) and Prince Tassilo (born in 2002).

For more information about the Royal Family of Bulgaria, visit this thread.

Marsel Bulgarian Royals Prince Kyrill, Rosario Nadal, Separation

 Although his life was never controversy-free, Bulgaria’s former Tsar and Prime Minister found himself in the midst of not one but several allegations recently.

click to view the picture in TIME

Several Bulgarian officials threatened Simeon Saxe-Coburg with court actions because he had allegedly been given more than the double of compensation he was entitled to under the country’s restitution process. In 2003, the Bulgarian Parliament, which was controlled by Simeon’s party at the time, decided to return some of the assets of the former royal family. It was later alleged that the compensations included about 450 hectares of forest lands, for which, according to some politicians, there was absolutely no legal basis.

In an interview to Israeli “Maariv” newspaper, the former Tsar denied those assertions: “Who did the land belong to in the past 50 years? Certainly not people: those in power had them. And later, those properties were left without care and were in pitiful condition. What should have I done – spend money on them and their maintenance, or leave them without proper care? When in 1998 the court ruled that as a Bulgarian citizen I had a right to restitution, no one said anything against it. When we donated 90 hectares to Sofia city hall, no one argued we were in right to do so. But from the moment I entered the politics, my opponents have been searching for such things to blacken my reputation”.

In the same newspaper, Simeon Saxe-Coburg denied another allegation – that he’s a heavy gambler. The former Tsar said that he’s visited casinos only 3 times in his entire life, out of curiosity, and all 3 visits were documented. He added: “After I became Prime Minister, I was accused of being a gambler, a Russian spy, a greedy person, whose motivation to return to his motherland was merely to gain back former Crown properties: all those accusation are complete nonsense!” Read more…

Marsel Bulgarian Royals European Union, Government, Interview, Scandal, Simeon II

Prince and Princess Preslav

Kyrill, Prince of Preslav married Doña Maria del Rosario Nadal in Palma de Mallorca on September 15, 1989. The wedding too place in Almudania’s Saint Anne Chapel: some 400 guests were invited to the wedding but only 125 could be present during the religious ceremony because of the Chapel’s small size. The guests included the entire Bulgarian Royal Family, the King and Queen of Spain, Infantas Elena and Cristina, the Prince of Asturias, who was one of the witnesses, as well as other royals and nobles from around the world.

The bride wore a heavy silk wedding gown designed by Gustavo Puente, which featured delicate embroidery and 3 meters long veil. Rosario wore one of the heirlooms of the Bulgarian Royal Family, the Floral Diamond Tiara, which had been a gift of Prince Ferdinand to his bride, Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon Parma. Queen Giovanna of Bulgaria, King Simeon’s mother, wore the tiara for her own wedding. The bride’s look was finished by matching diamond earrings – a present from King Simeon and Doña Margarita.

Upon the marriage, Rosario assumed her husband’s titles and became HRH Princess Rosario of Bulgaria, Princess of Preslav. Kyrill and Rosario have 3 children: Princess Mafalda-Cecilia Preslavska of Bulgaria (born in 1994), Princess Olimpia Preslavska of Bulgaria (born in 1995) and Prince Tassilo Preslavski of Bulgaria (born in 2002).

Prince Kyrill is the second son of Tsar Simeon II and Doña Margarita: although he was born after his father lost the throne, he is styled as a Royal Prince by courtesy. He graduated Princeton University with a degree in Physics in just 3 years and for some time read the subject at Princeton. He now works in banking sector in London, where the family resides most of the time. Princess Rosario is the daughter of Miguel Nadal i Bestard and Isabel Fuster de Puigdórfila i Villalonga. She is directly descended from Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II. Before her marriage to Kyrill, she used to be a model and was the face of Valentino for many years. Rosario is a Professor of the History of Art and occasionally gives readings on the subject.

The family owes a property in Majorca, where they spend their holidays. During the summer holidays, they can be occasionally seen with members of the Spanish Royal Family: the two Royal Houses appear to have very close relationships. You can find more information and pictures about the wedding in this thread.

Marsel Bulgarian Royals Biography, Prince Kyrill, Rosario Nadal, Wedding Anniversary

Click to see the images from PPE

  The Prince of Orange has met with former King Simeon II of Bulgaria at the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water Sanitation two days ago, at the 12th meeting of the board in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Prince of Orange attended the four-day meeting as the UNSG Advisory Board on Water Sanitation’s Chairman of the Board. He is deeply interested in water and sanitation, often attending events and working to improve the sanitation conditions of the world.

One of the main topics of the meeting is improving access to clean drinking water and sanitation in the countries surrouding the Black Sea, where 13million people lack access to clean drinking water and a further 41million have no sanitation.

On the first day of the meeting, May 25, Prince Willem-Alexander met with the Bulgarian President, Georgi Paranov, in a bilateral meeting.

The Prince of Orange’s current events thread can be found here.

JessRulz Bulgarian Royals, Dutch Royals Bulgaria, President Parvanov, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Simeon II, Water

Click on image to view photo gallery at photo.wenn.com

 Today, Kyril, Prince of Preslav participated in a charitable golf event for the Codespa Foundation in Madrid, Spain. The Codespa Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Spain under the aegis of the Prince of  Asturias that helps poor people and communities in developing countries of Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Prince Kyril, the second son of King Simeon and Queen Margarita (nee’ Gomez-Acebo y Cejuela) of Bulgaria is married to Rosario Nadal since 15 September 1989. They live in London with their three children, Princess Mafalda (1994), Princess Olympia (1995) and Prince Tassilo (2002). Prince Kyril is a merchant banker and financial analyst by profession.

More info on the Codespa Foundation from Wiki

Capricorn Bulgarian Royals Codespa Foundation, Prince Kyrill, Spain