Maxim Behar about the dynastic connection between Bulgaria and the United Kingdom

Host: Let's hope that King Charles III will have an extremely friendly, positive, and warm attitude towards Bulgaria, a country he visited 2 times. Maxim Behar, who has met him more than once, is hoping too. See what he told us.

Host: Mr. Behar, you know King Charles III personally. Can you tell us more about your meetings, when and how did you meet, under what circumstances?

Maxim: I had several meetings with the then Prince Charles and I think that each of these meetings brought something very interesting to Bulgaria. His first visit to Bulgaria was marked by the creation of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum, a great organization that is growing very actively and actually promotes ethical and correct business in Bulgaria. His second visit was related to a very big meeting with the business, which I led with the then Prime Minister King Simeon. There must be a prince in every fairytale to come true. In this case, this prince was Charles, now King Charles III. Indeed, his visit to Bulgaria in 2003 with a large group of British businessmen, with many televisions, actually put Bulgaria in investment plan on the map of Europe. Of course, it was also very attractive that Prince Charles came twice to Bulgaria within 5 years. When I had my first personal lunch with him, December 2002 at the St. James Palace, the same palace he was officially proclaimed king, then he told me "I very much want to come to Bulgaria, but I have a problem with my protocol, because it will be very difficult within 5 years to visit a country twice that is not even part of the Commonwealth. " But here it happened. This is very good news that a person, who knows Bulgaria well, rules the UK.

Host: How well does he really know Bulgaria?

Maxim: I think pretty well. He was in Plovdiv, he was in Varna, he stayed in Sofia for several days during both his visits. It is a fact that he knows his foundation, the Forum of Business Leaders, which is developing absolutely as an example for the whole of Eastern Europe. We have great contacts with the Czech Forum, with the Danish Forum, and I can say that we do unique things that others can only learn from. On the other hand, of course, the presence of the King and the kinship relationships are also not irrelevant. He will surely remember Bulgaria. We hope that one day King Charles will honor me with a visit.

Host: Can we really expect such a visit?

Maxim: The Spanish King came here. The Belgian king came here. I met both of them. Why not a visit from the British king. One of my unfulfilled dreams is Queen Elizabeth to visit Bulgaria. Around the news of her death, I found a letter in the archive, I found all the correspondence with Buckingham. In the end, in the letter from a few years ago from her personal secretary, she thanked for all these efforts, but said that there were no such plans in the coming years. Fact, she was already of a certain age. After all, the good memories remain, the meetings remain, and most of all, the fact that Prince Charles managed to help a lot to put Bulgaria on the investment map of Europe, remains.

Host: Except business related, did you talk about anything else? Tell us a little more about your personal conversations with him.

Maxim: He was impressed by my new phone, which I had left in the wardrobe because I couldn't have anything on me during lunch. I am known for being attached to new technology. He suddenly took it. This phone is currently in one of my cabinets. One day it may remain in the history that it was touched by the Prince of Wales, who had never seen this model at all. Of course, that we didn't talk about personal matters, but he was very interested in Bulgaria and what impressed me was that he was most interested in the business environment. When I went to lunch with him, I brought as a gift the Standard for business ethics, which I only wrote a few days before that. I decided it would be the most successful and most memorable gift. By the way, I am sure that many of your viewers knew that King Simeon had this Standard for business ethics behind him when he was Prime Minister. It wasn’t an icon or a picture or a painting.

Host: Can you say a few words about King Charles III's posture. What was his presence?

Maxim: What impressed me, especially at this lunch, we had two hours to talk, is that many of his gestures resemble the gestures of King Simeon. It surprised me a lot - both face and eye contact. By the way, Charles always looks in the eyes and always listens very carefully. We know that one of the modern diseases of our generation is that we rarely listen carefully, but rather we just wait to say the ready answer in our head. While he listens very carefully, he thinks about the details and then either asks for more information or answers. I would say he is a very soft person - a very soft look, a very velvety voice. He always leans a little closer to you when he wants to tell you something. Of course, these are manners that his grandparents and ancestors had, he learned them from his parents. The important thing is what I felt deep inside – he is extremely well predisposed to Bulgaria. He had a great desire to help this beautiful, wonderful country full of fantastic people. All the while, he kept saying that it is a country full of young and ambitious people who wanted to succeed. Bulgaria has really changed a lot.

Host: Will he like Bulgaria right now?

Maxim: Definitely. If we have a meeting today and I present him the Business Leaders Forum and the people and companies that have signed the Standard of business ethics, he may not be surprised because he knows what we are doing, but he will surely be satisfied because Bulgaria is indeed a better country. We can take a little example from what is happening in the UK right now. Now, in 2022, we do not need to wait 200 years, as in this anecdote for the Bulgarian and the meadow in England. We have information, everything comes very quickly. What we saw these days in London and all over the UK, this union, this humbleness, this common view of the future and support to the future head of state, we can very easily apply it in Bulgaria. If we can all unite so as to follow the example of the UK, to see the common things we have, not the ones that separate us, then everything will be A+. Then I guarantee that I will go to London, so that King Charles III can come here.

Host: Undoubtedly with the queen, an era is gone. What kind of an era is coming now?

Maxim: The new era comes with and without monarchs. Rather, it is a symbol that the queen is an era. Our whole generation lived with her only. Maybe 90% of the British know no one else as a head of state. However, a modern era comes, an era of fast knowledge, because all that we have on social media is nothing but knowledge. I know many people who forbid their children to use phones and tablets. Yes, they will be addicted to more information, to more modern information. And I hope that King Charles will be a more modern king. It is true that Queen Elizabeth had an Instagram and Twitter profile before him, but I guess he will quickly catch up and, if he can send exactly that message, that they should be united in both the UK and the world, we must look for exactly this message.

Watch the whole video here.