BANGKOK (THAILAND) – The Thai royal palace announced on Wednesday that King Maha Vajiralongkorn has restored the official titles and military rank to his royal consort a year after she was accused of being disloyal and vanished from public view.
This development comes amid anti-government protests demanding curbs on the newly expanded powers and privileges of the king, breaking a taboo. In the conservative country, the king is revered as semi-divine and above criticism.
Last October, Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 35, was deprived of the title of Royal Noble Consort in a palace statement, which said she was ungrateful in entertaining a rivalry with Queen Suthida, the wife of the monarch.
On Wednesday, the Royal Gazette stated that Sineenat “is untainted” and was eligible to enjoy the title of royal consort title and her earlier posts in the palace.
“Therefore, the stripping of royal titles, official position in serving the crown in military capacity and military ranks and the recall of all declarations has never taken place,” the said the order, adding it is effective from Aug. 28.
After her public disgrace, Sineenat vanished from public view and nobody knew her whereabouts. However, this week, the Bild newspaper reported that she had arrived in Germany where the monarch spends much of the year.
Vajiralongkorn was crowned in May last year after assuming the throne following the death of his father who ruled for seven decades.
A few days before his crowning, he married the deputy head of his personal bodyguard, Suthida Tidjai, 42, and awarded her the title of Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana.
After two months, he gave former nurse and bodyguard Sineenat the title of Royal Noble Consort. It was the first such appointment in almost a century before the end of absolute monarch in 1932.