In brief
Queen Sirikit, the beloved mother of King Vajiralongkorn and an icon of style and grace, has died in a Bangkok hospital at the age of 93. Following her extensive royal service, the Thai Royal Household will organize her funeral, marking a year of mourning for the royal family. Sirikit is remembered for her close connection with the Thai people and her historical role in the monarchy alongside her late husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Queen Sirikit, the mother of Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn, has died aged 93. She passed away peacefully in a Bangkok hospital at 21:21 local time (14:21 GMT) on Friday, according to the Thai Royal Household Bureau.
Sirikit had suffered several illnesses while in hospital since 2019, including a blood infection this month, it added.
For more than six decades, Queen Sirikit was married to Thailand's longest-reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016. In their globe-trotting heyday, she was seen as a style icon.
King Vajiralongkorn has ordered that the Thai Royal Household Bureau organise a royal funeral, with her body to lie in state at the Grand Palace's Dusit Thorne Hall in Bangkok. Thai royal family members will observe a year of mourning.
Queen Sirikit met her future husband while studying music in Paris, where her father was stationed as Thai ambassador. It was hate at first sight, she recalled. The couple married on 28 April 1950, just a week before King Bhumibol's coronation.
As a young queen, Sirikit was a fashion icon, making international best-dressed lists in the 1960s. She played a key role in the monarchy, fostering a close connection with the Thai public, and is remembered fondly, especially with her birthday, 12 August, designated as Mother's Day in Thailand.
