King Ferdinand must go

July 28, 1888.

 The New York Times reported that King Ferdinand of Bulgaria "must go." This statement was based on reports emanating from Continental journals about the parlous state of affairs in the Balkan kingdom.
"There is agreeable evidence also that Ferdinand is packing is trunk, so to say."
Turkey is insistent that Ferdinand is an illegal occupant of the Bulgarian throne. The newspaper also noted that the Archduchess Clotilde of Austria and her daughters, Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his sons and the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier were all visiting Ferdinand's mother, Princess Clementine - and "this can mean nothing less than a Coburg-Orleanist council."

Prince Waldemar of Denmark was mooted as a possible successor to Ferdinand., who, it was believed, would be more amenable to the Bulgarians. This was due to Waldemar being Lutheran - and Ferdinand, a Roman Catholic. (The primary religion of Bulgaria: Orthodox."
It was also announced that Kaiser Wilhelm II and King Christian IX were planning to meet in Kiel to discuss the Bulgarian situation - a family matter for Christian. The Russian Emperor apparently favored a Danish Prince (Waldemar) as the new king of Bulgaria.
The second candidate, the Duke of Cumberland, who was married to Christian's daughter, Thyra, rejected the offer, however. He was not interested in taking on a shaky throne.