MOM SUJARINEE ARTICLE FROM UK TELEGRAPH
An...@nutaumar.demon.co.uk
From Daily Telegraph 20 October
Adultery princess casts shadow on untouchables
By Christy Campbell
External Links
Thai Link
home page
Bangkok Post
WHEN the Queen and Prince Philip arrive in Bangkok
next week to begin their state visit to Thailand they will find
sanctuary from media
salaciousness.
In the land of the Golden Umbrellas there is no such
thing as a misbehaving royal family. Reporting anything which shows
the Chakri
dynasty in an unflattering light in the Thai press
is a criminal offence. But when the two royal families meet there will
be ample opportunity
for the distinguished monarch-parents to compare
notes - not least because Crown Prince Maha Vijiralongkorn, aged 44 -
four years
younger than the Prince of Wales - is experiencing
marital fireworks.
Bangkok has found out about the heir to the throne's
domestic strife in spectacular fashion. The Prince did not need
intruding tabloids to
break the news for him. Last summer he put up
posters on his own palace wall proclaiming his wife an "adulterer",
who ran off with a
London-based Thai defence official.
Bangkok sources indicate that the Prince has
recently conducted a secret divorce - and is now seeing "a variety of
ladies". He is said to
have spirited his young daughter out of Britain
earlier this year on the advice of the family fortune-teller. The
Queen and Prince Philip are to
meet the prince at a private dinner at Bang Pa-In
Palace hosted by his parents, the 68-year-old King Bhumipol, the
world's longest serving
monarch, and his consort, Queen Sirikit.
When the Duke of Edinburgh the next day visits the
Bridge over the River Kwai, built by PoW slave labour on the territory
of Japan's
Siamese wartime ally, the Queen may have a chance to
reflect with her hosts on the difficulties of having a
maritally-troubled heir.
Comparisons have been made between the two wifeless
princes. Both have been long groomed to accede to the throne and have
expressed concern for the spiritual well-being of
their nations. But references to the Crown Prince as a "playboy" have
caused imported
Western newspapers to be banned from Thailand.
The Crown Prince issued a statement three years ago
rejecting allegations that he was connected to illicit business
operations. They
included rumours that he backed a syndicate caught
rigging the national lottery and had allowed massage parlours to stay
open beyond the
2am curfew. He admitted he felt "hurt and
disheartened" about the rumours. "They seem to want to dump everything
bad on me," he said.
Princess Sucharinee now lives as a recluse in
north London under the name "Mrs Mahidol"
His mother told American journalists in a rare
interview a decade ago: "My son is a little bit of a Don Juan. Women
find him interesting, and
he finds women even more interesting. So his family
life is not so smooth."
So it has turned out. What the Thai public does not
generally know is that Princess Sucharinee, a former actress whom the
Prince married
two years ago after a long relationship, now lives
as a recluse in north London under the name "Mrs Mahidol".
She fled to Britain after the wall poster accused
her and her alleged lover, Anand Rotsamkhan, a 60-year-old Thai air
marshal, of
"adultery". A commoner, the princess had never been
fully accepted into the royal family. Now the family has disowned her.
The prince had an earlier wife, Princess Soamsawali,
whom he divorced five years ago, complaining that she spent too much
time playing
table tennis. Now, under the discreet watch of the
Metropolitan Police's Royal and Diplomatic Protection Squad, Mrs
Mahidol sends her
sons, the 15 and 16-year-old serene highnesses, to
Harrow School from her Pinner home.
It is aid in Bangkok that the Crown Prince came to
London in July to take their daughter, Princess Mom Chao Busnamphej,
back to
Thailand after a local fortune-teller told his
father that the birth of a girl after four sons was inauspicious for
the dynasty.
The royal rift has long been the whispered talk of
smart Bangkok society. But ordinary Thais found out only in June when
the prince stuck
the proclamation outside his palace. "Everyone knows
what is going on," said a Thai royal watcher - but the prince's
affairs are absolutely
not to be talked about in public.
"These two people have been declared persona non
grata and expelled from the palace," the poster said. "If anyone sees
them they must be
shunned. Anand has been expelled from his position.
If he does anything else he will be punished. The Institution (royal
family) and Thai
government do not want him to return."
The princess's clothes and personal possessions were
reportedly dumped in the street that night. The royal succession is a
controversial
topic in a country where the dignity of the monarchy
provides political ballast for an exploding economy and a restless
military.
The jazz-loving King Bhumipol has had two operations
in the past 18 months to enlarge a narrowed artery, raising worrying
questions about
his longevity. Comparisons between the two divorced
heirs apparent are easy to draw. But there is a difference. British
royalty is under
relentless media attack and the age of deference is
at an end. In Thailand, the royal family still commands popular
respect.
10 June 1996: Mercy for jailed Britons as Thai king
celebrates
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1996.
Terms & Conditions of reading.
Richard Phillips
On Thu, 24 Oct 1996 22:23:16 GMT, An...@nutaumar.demon.co.uk wrote:
>From Daily Telegraph 20 October
>
>
>
>
> Adultery princess casts shadow on untouchables
> By Christy Campbell
>
>
[...]
>
> When the Duke of Edinburgh the next day visits the
>Bridge over the River Kwai, built by PoW slave labour on the territory
>of Japan's
> Siamese wartime ally, the Queen may have a chance to
>reflect with her hosts on the difficulties of having a
>maritally-troubled heir.
Whilst having immense sympathy for all the European PoWs who were
brutalised or murdered in Asia during the 2nd World War (I used to
have one of them as a boss) I'm always amazed that British newspapers
never seem to mention the very much larger number of Asians (around
100,000 I believe) who received the same treatment. Or don't they
count?
---
I reserve the right to make public, at my sole discretion,
in whole or in part, any email which I receive.