In 1946, 9-year-old King Simeon II and his family fled Bulgaria and went into exile as Communists seized power and rigged a plebiscite to get rid of the monarchy.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Important market reforms were carried out by Bulgaria's former king, Simeon II, when he was prime minister between 2001 and 2005.

BBC: POLITICS

The former King, Simeon of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, swept to parliamentary victory in the 2001 election, but never quite settled into the prime minister's chair.

BBC: Bulgarian politics back on the streets