Their Majesties hosted a visit from the Youth Guards Detachments at the Vrana Palace. With great curiosity and satisfaction, the King learned about the history of each detachment visiting the Palace – the youth from the II Student Guard Band from Burgas, the III Youth Guard Detachment from EG “Ivan Vazov” – Smolyan, the IV Detachment from the Vocational School of Electrical Engineering and Electronics “Konstantin Fotinov” – Burgas, the V Student Guard Detachment from OU “Otec Paisii” – Batak, the VI Detachment from SU “Hristo Botev” – Aytos, and the I Children’s Guard Detachment from DG “Maya” – Plovdiv. The youth had the honor of seeing the first guard uniform of His Majesty King Simeon II as a child, followed by his ceremonial attire as a guard from the national Guard. The King gifted each visiting school valuable and interesting books to be kept in the school libraries. The host and his wife were extremely impressed by the initiative and the young people who maintain the Bulgarian patriotic spirit from an early age. The guards and the band congratulated His Majesty with the performance of two marches in honor of his upcoming 85th birthday. The King was delighted by the many gifts: each school gave him a special plaque, the children presented specially crafted gifts – a painting by Denislav Marinov, two guard caps – one for the future heir Prince Boris Tarnovski, and for the son of Princess Kalina, Prince Simeon Hasan, handmade Bulgarian jewelry for Queen Margarita. Olympic champion Reneta Kamberova, also a municipal councilor in Pazardzhik, presented a special gift – a painting of the oldest Christian church in Pazardzhik – “St. Virgin Mary”. “I am moved by your work and feel happy that Bulgaria has such lively, bright children to preserve Bulgarian memory. I am happy that today, on the Day of Courage and the Holiday of the Bulgarian Army, we are meeting. My doors are always open to you and the children of all Youth Guard Detachments,” said His Majesty. After the official meeting, the host and his wife spent time having lengthy conversations with each detachment, and the children were extremely inspired and motivated by the meeting. The initiative was organized by the Association “Youth Guard Detachments”, the public club “Bulgarian Crown”, and the Youth Sports Club “Pazardzhik Sports”.
