The remains of tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria were transferred to his home country from Germany on Wednesday, nearly 76 years after his death, allowing the nation to finally bid him farewell.
His remains are to be buried in Bulgaria, in line with what are thought to have been his wishes.
Ferdinand lived in exile in Bavaria until his death in 1948. He was buried there in a form of transportable coffin that was kept in the crypt of St. Augustine's Church.
Bulgarians held a funeral ceremony for Ferdinand I on Wednesday at Vrana Palace outside Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. It was attended by his grandson, Bulgarian former king Simeon II, once a prime minister of the country, as well as other family members, clergy and politicians and dozens of Bulgarians.
A funeral procession headed from the main entrance of the palace park to the palace building, followed by a funeral prayer.
Born in Vienna in 1861, the nobleman from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was prince of Bulgaria from 1887 and tsar of Bulgaria from 1908 to 1918. After Bulgaria's defeat in World War I, Ferdinand abdicated.
His remains were brought to Sofia on a Bulgarian military aeroplane and were received at the government airport with state honours by the National Guard.
A funeral is to take place on Thursday in a close family circle in the castle crypt in Vrana.
"The gesture of returning tsar Ferdinand to Bulgaria, I think, is something that testifies to a different view and a different reading of history," said Simeon II on the sidelines of the ceremony, according to BTA news agency.
While Ferdinand I largely modernized Bulgaria, he is also something of a controversial figure there. Under communism, he was blamed for Bulgaria's "two national disasters," namely being defeated in the Second Balkan War and World War I.
Opponents of the Bulgarian monarchy, which was abolished by referendum in 1946, criticized the transfer of Ferdinand's remains to Bulgaria in comments online.