Ahead of his coronation as Thai king, King Maha Vajiralongkorn has married a new queen in elaborate Buddhist and Brahmin ceremonies on Saturday in Bangkok.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his consort, Gen. Suthida Vajiralongkorn named Queen Suthida, were wedded in Bangkok.
The 66-year-old king unexpectedly married the deputy commander of his personal bodyguard unit on Wednesday in a surprise ceremony, giving her the title Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhaya.
Before the ceremony, she was deputy commander of the King’s Own Bodyguard Regiment.
Born on June 3, 1978, as Suthida Tidjai Suthida, she is expected to participate in some of the coronation events.
She graduated from Assumption University, a private university in Bangkok, with a bachelor’s degree in communication arts in 2000, according to the Thai Rath newspaper.
She worked as a flight attendant at Thai Airways before joining the protection unit of then-Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn.
Under Thailand’s lese majeste laws, criticising or insulting her is a crime which carries punishment up to 15 years imprisonment.
The king, queen, heir to the throne and regent are covered under the law.
Already, she has held the rank of general in the Royal Thai Army before her marriage, having promoted to the position in December 2016 through the promulgation of a royal decree by King Vajiralongkorn.
The royal decree named her Lt. Col. Suthida Vajiralongkorn.
This happened shortly after his ascension of the throne following the death of his father, King Bhumibo Adulyadej.
The king himself is commander of the unit, and he first designated her to the special officer unit of Crown Prince’s Bodyguard Regiment in 2013.
She made her debut on Royal News, a nightly segment about the king and his family aired on all Thai television channels, hours after her wedding.
The wedding came as a surprise to many Thais because the palace had never previously acknowledged any personal relationship between her and King Vajiralongkorn, who has previously been married and divorced three times.
She has been awarded royal honours in 20 royal decrees, the first in 2012 when King Bhumibol awarded her the Order of the White Elephant for her “honesty, loyalty and responsibility, dedication and sacrifice’’ in service to then Prince Vajiralongkorn.
During the upcoming coronation, the king is likely to bestow his new bride with new royal titles.
It is a tradition for a new monarch to grant new titles to family members. (Reuters/NAN)
