# Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria

Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Княгиня Мария Луиза Българска; born 13 January 1933) also known as Marie Louise Borisova Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, is the daughter of Tsar Boris III and Tsaritsa Ioanna and the older sister of Simeon II of Bulgaria. Her baptism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church caused controversy at the time because her mother had promised to raise her children as Catholics. After the change in house laws into absolute primogeniture by her brother Simeon II, Princess Marie Louise became the head of the house of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry.

## Biography

Her godfather was Aleksandar Malinov.
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 Marie Louise left the country with her mother and brother. They first lived in Egypt and then moved to Spain. With her father, she took part in the ship tour organized by King Paul of Greece and Queen Frederica in 1954, which became known as the "Cruise of the Kings" and was attended by over 100 royals from all over Europe.

### Marriage and issue

She married Prince Karl of Leiningen (2 January 1928– 28 September 1990) in a civil ceremony on 14 February 1957 in Amorbach and in a religious ceremony on 20 February 1957 in Cannes. Karl and Marie Louise divorced on 4 December 1968. 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 on 11 September 1999, They had two children.
* Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen (16 April 1963) married Deborah Cully on 16 May 1987, They have three daughters.
On 16 November 1969, she married Bronisław Tomasz Andrzej Chrobok (born 27 August 1934 in Katowice, Poland), in Toronto, Canada. Subsequently they lived in New Jersey, United States and have a daughter and a son:
* Princess Alexandra-Nadejda of 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) on 8 September 2001. They have three children.
* Prince Pawel Alastair Antoni of 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 Marie Louise and the descendants of her second marriage, by her brother King Simeon II, in September 2015.

### Professional life

Princess Marie Louise is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Bulgaria.
On 13 May 2012, at the 18th commencement ceremony, Princess Marie Louise received an honorary doctoral degree in Humane Letters from the American University in Bulgaria.
In 2001, she visited and toured the church of St John of Rila the Wonderworker in Chicago's Portage Park community area.

## Titles, styles, honours and awards
### Titles

* 13 January 1933 – 14 February 1957: Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Louisa of Bulgaria, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
* 14 February 1957 – 4 December 1968: Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Louisa of Bulgaria, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, Princess of Leiningen
* 4 December 1968 – 11 June 2012: Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Louisa of Bulgaria, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
* 11 June 2012 – present: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Koháry

### Honours
#### Dynastic

* House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Alexander

#### Foreign

* Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Malta (7 March 2023)

## Ancestors

Ancestors of Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria :