In the palace, he is the officer to whom Tsar Ferdinand entrusts the training of his sons in artillery. She is Princess Evdokia - daughter of Ferdinand and sister of the future Tsar Boris III. Feelings arise between Ivan Bagryanov and Evdokia, but their relationship does not lead to marriage.
The story remains in the shadow of the palace protocol and was later told through testimonies of people close to the royal family. Palace official Pavel Gruev stated before the People's Court:
„A long time ago, Princess Evdokia and Ivan Bagryanov were in love and were even going to get married, but Tsar Ferdinand opposed this marriage.“This is one of the most direct testimonies of their relationship, but we do not have enough preserved personal correspondence to describe the relationship in detail.
The officer who entered the royal palace
Bagryanov was born in 1891, and there are different reports about his date of birth - October 29 and November 27. The Bulgarian National Radio indicates November 27, 1891 and the village of Voden, Razgrad region. Other historical publications indicate October 29 and Razgrad.
He graduated from the Military School in Sofia in 1912 and participated in the Balkan Wars and World War I. For his bravery, he received eight Bulgarian and foreign orders. After the war, he became an adjutant to Tsar Boris III and became one of his closest people.
It was his court service that brought him closer to Evdokia. According to the stories of their relationship, Bagryanov was not perceived by Ferdinand as a suitable husband for his daughter. For the monarch, the origin of the future son-in-law was more important than his closeness to the royal family.
Separation and the path to politics
After the end of World War I, Evdokia left Bulgaria with her father, who abdicated in 1918. Later, she returned to the country, and until Boris III's marriage to Giovanna of Savoy in 1930, she performed the unofficial role of first lady.
Bagryanov left military service in 1919, studied law and agronomy, and then devoted himself to farming near Razgrad. Later, he became a deputy and Minister of Agriculture and State Property. In 1944, he headed the government of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, which he ruled from June 1 to September 2.
The love story remained unfinished, and Bagryanov's fate ended tragically. He was sentenced to death by the People's Court and shot on February 1, 1945. Evdokia lived out the decades after the war in exile and died in 1985 in Germany. There was no royal wedding between them, but it remains one of the most famous stories of love interrupted by dynastic rules.
Sources: archives.bnr.bg, bulgarianhistory.org