Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who is to have his official coronation tomorrow, has appointed his consort as the country’s queen.
An announcement in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday said that Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhya is legally married to the 66-year-old king, and is now Queen Suthida.
Although she has been in the public eye for about three years, there has been little official information released about her and the news was a surprise to many Thais.
Photo: AFP / THAI ROYAL HOUSEHOLD BUREAU
She is reported to be 40 years old and to have previously worked as a flight attendant for Thai Airways International.
The two reportedly met on a flight.
Suthida joined the palace guard in 2013 and became commander of the king’s security unit. She now holds a general’s rank.
The new queen also has several top royal decorations.
Vajiralongkorn has had three previous marriages and in 2014 divorced his previous wife, with whom he has a son. He became king after the death in October 2016 of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Thai television, which on Wednesday evening broadcast the royal order, showed a video of Suthida prostrating herself before the king, to whom she, according to the announcer, presented a tray of flowers and joss sticks, and in return was bestowed traditional gifts associated with royal power.
It also showed the king in a white uniform and his bride in a pink silk traditional dress formally registering their marriage on Wednesday in his palace residence in the capital, Bangkok.
It showed what the television announcer said was the couple signing a marriage certificate book, which was also signed by the king’s sister, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and Thai Privy Council head Prem Tinsulanonda as witnesses.
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS