BANGKOK: Princess’s Death Confirmed And So Were People’s FearsThe news of Friday morning in Thailand was something the nation had feared for years to come. An official announcement was made by the Bureau of the Royal Household informing everyone about the death of Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, the eldest daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, on the night before.
The princess was 47 years old.As Thailand had been watching the health of the princess carefully ever since her mysterious fall in late 2022, this confirmation came along with a special sorrow felt long ago but never expected.
A Surprise Collapse
The problem arose with absolutely no prior notice whatsoever. The princess fainted while undergoing training of military dogs in Nakhon Ratchasima Province back in December 2022. Her situation was serious enough for her to be airlifted to the hospital of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, where she was found out to have suffered significant damage to her heart from an acute bacterial infection. The heart arrhythmia she developed was vicious, but even with instant intensive treatment, she did not regain consciousness.
In the end, it became three-and-a-half years of medical suspense conveyed to the nation via occasional brief bulletins from the palace, each one received by millions with the same hopes and fears. Fighting for her remaining life via blood infections, organs support, and multiple emergencies, the doctors lost their battle at 7:48 local time on June 11.
More than a Princess An Album that Spoke for Itself
Thailand had many princes who were adored by their subjects. After completing her studies at Thammasat University in Bangkok, she travelled around the world to attend Cornell University in New York, where she obtained a masters in law before pursuing her PhD. She returned not just for a symbolic purpose, but to do some actual work in the Attorney-General’s Office.
Diplomacy followed. As an ambassador of Thailand to Austria, Slovenia, and Slovakia, she built ties and credentials in foreign affairs that most royal families in the world do not care about or bother to build. It even caught the eye of the United Nations, who appointed her a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women; not out of respect to her royalty, but through merit alone.
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But her most significant dedication was to prison reform. Through the Kamlangjai project, which means “inspire,” she set up a program aimed at helping women inmates transition back into society. Through her program, she showed that there is a huge difference between how prison facilities treat their female inmates and what should be done for them. Her success in the international community was attributed to using the UN system to bring about change.
Royal Response with Highest State Funeral Ceremony
According to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the highest honor ever accorded to a king or anyone else within the Thai royal family will be bestowed upon the late Princess Ubolratana at her funeral. This is because her mortal remains were received at the Phiman Rattaya Throne Hall at the Grand Palace Complex. This shows how big a figure she was in terms of the royal family, as well as Thai society.
This shows how much the king respects his eldest daughter as he will conduct the funeral of one of the most respected princesses in Thailand with the highest ceremony that even kings have never witnessed before.
