Prince of Tarnovo

Prince of Turnovo or Prince of Tarnovo (Bulgarian: Княз Търновски, Knyaz Tarnovski) is the title held by the first-born son of the Bulgarian monarch. This title is held only by the heir to the throne.

Tarnovo (Veliko Tarnovo) was an old Bulgarian capital and the strongest Bulgarian fortification of the Middle Ages between the 12th and 14th century and the most important political, economic, cultural and religious centre of the empire. In the 14th century as the Byzantine Empire weakened Tarnovo claimed to be the Third Rome based on its pre-eminent cultural influence in the Balkans and the Slavic Orthodox world.

In 1393 after vigorous resistance to a 3-month siege Turnovo was seized and the whole Bulgarian Tsardom was destroyed by the invading Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman moved his residence to the castle of Nikopol but took the title Prince of Turnovo (Lord of Turnovo, Bulgarian: Господин Търновски, Gospodin Tarnovski).

In 1593 a Bulgarian noble and a descendant of the medieval Shishman dynasty, Theodore Ballina of Nikopol took the title 'Prince of Turnovo'. He was the leader of the First Tarnovo Uprising against the Ottoman Empire. In 1686 Rostislav Stratimirovic, another descendant of the dynasty and the leader of the Second Tarnovo Uprising, also took the title. During the Third Tarnovo Uprising in 1835, the title was taken by the leader of the uprising, Velcho Atanasov.

After his abdication from the Bulgarian throne, Prince Alexander Batenberg claimed the title Prince of Tarnovo and used it until his death.

In 1894 the first son of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Boris was given the old title 'Prince of Turnovo' as a title for the Crown Prince, the heir apparent to the Bulgarian throne. The use of the title was continued by the royal family after the abolition of the monarchy in 1946. The wife of a Prince of Turnovo is also titled Princess of Turnovo (Bulgarian: Княгиня Търновска, Knyagina Tarnovska). The last Prince of Turnovo was Prince Kardam, the eldest son of Tsar Simeon II.

People who to have held the title Prince of Turnovo:

Portrait	Name	From	To	Dynasty	Arms
	Prince Shishman	1393	1395	Shishman	90px
80px	Prince Theodore	1593	1593	Shishman	90px
	Prince Rostislav	1686	1686	Shishman	90px
80px	Prince Velcho	1835	1835	Atanasov
	Prince Alexander	1886	1893	Hesse	80px
	Prince Boris	1894	1918	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	80px
	Prince Simeon	1937	1943	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	80px
80px	Prince Kardam	1962	2015	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	80px
	Prince Boris	2015		Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	80px