Bulgaria's former King Simeon II is the first ex-monarch to gain power in post-communist Eastern Europe. The former king, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, became Bulgaria's new prime minister on July 24, 2001.
He was proclaimed king in 1943, after his father Boris III died suddenly. In 1946, the monarachy was abolished under the Communists, and the 9-year-old king fled with his mother into exile.
The former child-king enjoys enormous popular support, but in this edition of Dateline regional experts offer mixed assessments of the prospects for "Bulgaria's Royal Prime Minister."
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