Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria ( bg, Княгиня Мария Луиза Българска; born 13 January 1933,

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

) is the daughter of Tsar

Boris III Boris III ( bg, Борѝс III ; Boris Treti; 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier) , was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until h ...

and Tsaritsa

Ioanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice ...

and the older sister of

Simeon II of Bulgaria Simeon Borisov von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ( bg, Симеон Борисов Сакскобургготски, translit=Simeon Borisov Sakskoburggotski, ; born 16 June 1937) is a Bulgarian politician who reigned as the last tsar of the Kingdom of Bul ...

. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (editor). Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, Burke's Peerage, London, 1973, pp. 245–246, 296. Her baptism in the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

caused controversy at the time because her mother had promised to raise her children as

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. After the change in house laws into absolute primogeniture by her brother Simeon of Bulgaria, Princess Marie Louise became the head of the house of

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry is the Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, founded after the marriage of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. Among its desc ...

.https://www.kingsimeon.bg/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Nie_Simeon-II_Kohary.pdf

Biography

Her godfather was

Aleksandar Malinov Aleksandar Pavlov Malinov ( bg, Александър Павлов Малинов) (3 May 1867 – 20 March 1938) was a leading Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister on three occasions. He was born in Pandakli, Bessarabia (presen ...

. She was enrolled at the Medical Nurse College of the Spanish Red Cross Society, which she graduated with honours. After the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, Princess Maria Louise left the country with her mother and brother. They first lived in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and then moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Marriage and issue

She married

Prince Karl of Leiningen Prince Karl Vladimir Ernst Heinrich of Leiningen (2 January 1928 – 28 September 1990) was the second son of Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen (1898–1946) and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de ...

(1927–1990) in a civil ceremony on 14 February 1957 in

Amorbach Amorbach () is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the small river Mud, in the northeastern part of the Odenwald ...

and in a religious ceremony on 20 February 1957 in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. The couple had two sons: * Prince Boris of Leiningen (17 April 1960) married firstly Milena Manov on 14 February 1987; divorced 9 July 1994, with issue. He wed secondly Cheryl Ann Riegler 11 September 1999, with issue *

Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen Prince Hermann Friedrich Fernando Roland of Leiningen (; born April 16, 1963) is a Canadian banker and the younger son of Prince Karl of Leiningen and Princess Maria Luisa of Bulgaria. He is 173rd in line to the British throne as of 2011. Life ...

(16 April 1963) married Deborah Cully 16 May 1987, with issue Karl and Marie Louise divorced on 4 December 1968. On 16 November 1969, she married Bronisław Tomasz Andrzej Chrobok (born 27 August 1934 in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

), in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. Subsequently they lived in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States and have a daughter and a son: *Alexandra-Nadejda (Chrobok), Princess von Koháry (born 14 September 1970), married Jorge Champalimaud Raposo de Magalhães (born 16 September 1970, scion of two Portuguese industrial families, grandnephew of

António Champalimaud António de Sommer Champalimaud ( Lapa, Lisbon, 19 March 1918 – Lapa, Lisbon, 8 May 2004) was a Portuguese banker and industrialist in 2004. He was the wealthiest man in Portugal, he earned his fortune with insurance, banking, iron ore mi ...

) on 8 September 2001. They have three children. *Pawel Alastair Antoni (Chrobok), Prince von Koháry (born 3 May 1972), married Ariana Oliver Mas in 2014. They have two children.

Princess of Koháry

The title "Princess of Koháry" was nominally ceded to Princess Maria-Louise and the descendants of her second marriage, by her brother Simeon II, ex-King of Bulgaria, on 11 June 2012.

Professional life

Princess Maria-Louise is a member of the Board of Trustees of the

American University in Bulgaria The American University in Bulgaria (or AUBG) is a private university located in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Established in 1991, today AUBG has about 1,000 students from over 40 countries on 5 continents (as of Fall 2019). Close to 50% of the student ...

. On 13 May 2012, at the 18th commencement ceremony, Princess Maria-Louise received an honorary doctoral degree in Humane Letters from the

.Honorary Degree Recipients
/ref> In 2001, she visited and toured the church of St John of Rila the Wonderworker in Chicago's

Portage Park Portage Park is a park in the Portage Park community area of Chicago, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places. The park stretches from Irving Park Road on the south to Berteau Avenue between Central and Long Avenues. The largest p ...

community area.

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Louise Of Bulgaria, Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria, Princess Living people Bulgarian princesses House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Bulgaria) Nobility from Sofia Leiningen family Princesses of Leiningen Daughters of kings