Kardam, Prince of Turnovo

In Madrid, on 11 July 1996, Kardam married Doña Miriam Ungría y López, born in Madrid on 2 September 1963, a gemologist and daughter of Don Bernardo Ungría y Goiburu, honorary president of the Colegio Heráldico de España y de las Indias and his wife, Doña María del Carmen López y Oleaga, both of Basque descent.

They had two sons, who are first and second, respectively, in the line of succession to the now-defunct Bulgarian throne: Boris (b. 12 October 1997 in Madrid) and Beltrán (b. 23 March 1999 in Madrid).

Kardam was the godfather of Prince Achileas-Andreas of Greece and Denmark, son of Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece.

On 15 August 2008, Kardam and his wife were involved in a serious car accident in El Molar, near Madrid. Prince Kardam was taken by helicopter to the Doce de Octubre Hospital, while his wife was taken to the La Paz Hospital. The car they were in crashed into a tree, then turned over just ten metres away from a nearby house.

Kardam suffered severe brain-skull trauma and severe injuries to his hands, while his wife suffered a broken elbow, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. She was treated and released from the hospital on 4 September. Galya Dicheva, a spokeswoman for the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, confirmed the information about the car accident and explained that Kardam had undergone surgery in the evening following the accident. As of 18 August 2008, Kardam was being kept in an induced coma. According to doctors at the Doce de Octubre Hospital, his hands were paralysed and reports mentioned that he had lost two fingers.[2][3] A Bulgarian news agency reported on 15 October, that Kardam was in critical condition but stable and that his breathing and vital signs had improved.[4] The news agency reported on 23 January 2009 that he had been released from the hospital and was slowly recovering at home. Kardam was now able to stand and communicate.[5] In January 2010 however, he suffered a critical setback and was re-hospitalised. He remained in a coma until his death on 7 April 2015.[6]

In May 2010, Bulgarian authorities issued a summons to the comatose Kardam over issues relating to the management of property returned to him, to his father and to his aunt (as heirs to Kings Ferdinand and Boris III) by the post-communist government. Former King and Prime Minister Simeon II and his sister Princess Maria Louisa objected to the summons on the grounds that Kardam was incapacitated.[7]

Prince Kardam died of a lung infection in a hospital in Madrid on 7 April 2015, aged 52.[8] After an Eastern Orthodox funeral, he was buried at Saint Isidore Cemetery in Madrid.