SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria‘s King Simeon II, who fled his homeland in 1946 and briefly returned for the first time 50 years later, arrives in Sofia on Tuesday to spend his first Christams at home since his exile ended. The 61-year-old king, accompanied by his Spanish aristocrat wife Margarita and daugther Kalina, will also inspect the royal property, confiscated by the then-communist regime in 1947 and returned to Simeon earlier this year. He is expected to stay in Bulgaria for about two weeks and may meet top Bulgarian officials. Bulgarians have high regard for Simeon, but opinion polls show support for restoring the monarchy is low. Simeon, who lives in Madrid and works as a business consultant, fled Bulgaria as a child after the Soviet Red Army installed a puppet communist regime. His first visit to Bulgaria since then was in 1996, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary Bulgarians gave him a rapturous welcome while the then-socialist government of ex-communists cold-shouldered him. He also paid a brief visit last year during an election campaign won by a landslide by the centre-right UDF party. Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court revoked a 1947 law that nationalised the property of the former monarchs — two palaces near Sofia and five real estates elsewhere in the Balkan country of 8.5 million people. Simeon‘s statement said that during his visit the king would discuss future public use of some properties but gave no details. Simeon is the son of Boris III, who ascended to the throne after his father King Ferdinand abdicated in 1918 and then ruled the Balkan state until his death in 1943, a year before the communists took over.