Tsarska Bistritsa

Simeon II of Bulgaria at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid in June 2016. Photo: EPA/FERNANDO ALVARADO

The court found that Bulgaria breached their rights by imposing a ban on any commercial exploitation of forestland owned by the siblings. The court said it found that the Bulgarian authorities "failed to justify the broad measures it had instituted to protect the forestland".

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister Maria-Louisa have lost the case for the Sitnyakovo royal residence at the court of second instance, according to a media statement of the Sofia Appellate Court.

Under the ruling of the Sofia Appellate Court, as cited by Trud daily, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister are not the owners of the property.

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister Maria-Louisa have lost the case for the Sitnyakovo royal residence at the court of first instance, according to a decision of the Sofia District Court.

A Sofia court has ruled that the royal residence Tsarska Bistritsa must be returned to the state by Bulgaria’s former Tsar and PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg and his sister Maria-Louisa.