Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and General Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, the royal consort, pose at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Reuters
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Who is Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi? 5 things to know about the Thai king’s former royal consort
She was in a polygynous relationship with Queen Suthida, but King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped the pilot and general major of her titles for ‘misbehaviour and disloyalty’
Royal noble consort Sineenat Bilaskalayani, also known as Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, has been stripped of all titles by Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Photo: AFP
King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 67, shocked Thai society on October 21, 2019 with his decision to strip his royal noble consort of all royal titles and military ranks for “misbehaviour and disloyalty against the monarch”.
In an announcement released on the king’s behalf in Thailand’s royal Gazette, the palace stated Sineenat showed “disrespectful” behaviours and acted with the intention of supplanting Queen Suthida, prompting her dismissal.
But who is this woman behind the sudden fall from grace?
While public knowledge of Sineenat’s personal life is limited (as her official biography, which was released by the palace in August, has since been removed from the bureau of the royal household’s website), here’s what you should know about Sineenat.
Sineenat was the first person to be awarded the title of royal noble consort in nearly a century
Major General Sineenatra Wongvajirabhakdi, the royal noble consort of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Photo: Associated Press
While Thai monarchs have a history of electing royal consorts – who, in Thailand’s case, are official companions to the king, in addition to his wife – the title has not been used since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. The last king to publicly take a consort was King Rama VI, who ruled from 1910 to 1925.
The title of consort placed Sineenat in a polygynous relationship with Queen Suthida, 41, Vajiralongkorn’s fourth wife.
Sineenat has been seen publicly by the king’s side for a few years now
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped his newly-named royal consort Sineenat of her titles and military ranks for being ‘disloyal’ and conducting a rivalry with Queen Suthida, the palace said. Photo: Reuters
Photographs of Sineenat and Vajiralongkorn together began to surface online in 2016, the year he ascended the throne on his father’s death.
Sineenat has often been seen at royal events in previous years, including the cremation ceremony of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October 2017.
The palace gave the Thai public a closer look at Sineenat with the release of 60 photographs along with her official biography in August. The revealing scenes ranged from Sineenat kneeling by the foot of the king’s throne to her sitting clad in a camouflage sports bra in the cockpit of a military aircraft. Previously, such personal images had typically been reserved for the king’s close relatives.
Sineenat was also a major-general and is a trained pilot, nurse and bodyguard
Pilot Major General Sineenatra Wongvajirabhakdi, the royal consort of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, next to an aircraft. Photo: Associated Press
Born on January 26, 1985, in Thailand’s northern province of Nan, Sineenat first worked as a nurse after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Army Nursing College in 2008.
In 2015, Sineenat joined the king’s bodyguard corps, where she completed a variety of military courses, including jungle warfare and parachuting, and obtained a private pilot’s licence. She then moved up to serve as a major general before becoming the royal consort.
Sineenat was appointed to the position of royal consort for the same reason she was supposedly dismissed from it: conflict with the queen
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall of the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Photo: Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse
According to the palace’s official statement, Sineenat had “shown resistance and pressure in every manner to stop the appointment of the queen” ahead of her coronation this past May in an attempt to make herself queen instead.
Two months after marrying Suthida, the king consequently gave Sineenat the royal consort position in hopes that it would alleviate the situation. However, the palace asserts that once in the position, Sineenat was unhappy with her status and tried to elevate herself to “the same state as the queen”. The statement charges Sineenat with abusing her power to issue personal orders and pretending they were royal commands.
Sineenat isn’t the first royal partner to be dismissed from the king’s side
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn walks with royal noble consort Sineenat Bilaskalayani, also known as Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi. Photo: Agence France-Presse
Sineenat’s royal removal isn’t the first of its kind, as two of the king’s former wives were removed from the monarchy and stripped of their respective decorations.
In 1996, Vajiralongkorn denounced his second wife, Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, who then fled to the United States. Then in 2014, he similarly stripped his third wife, Srirasmi Suwadee, of all her titles and banished her from court.
During this time, Srirasmi’s parents were arrested and imprisoned for criticising the monarchy, a crime known in Thailand as lèse-majesté (a French saying meaning “to do wrong to majesty”). The severe enforcement of lèse-majesté laws also contributes to the tight control over Sineenat’s public narrative.