From Thai king’s consort Koi to Meghan Markle, why is royal life so hard?

King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped his consort Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi of her titles, accusing her of disloyalty and an ambition to displace the queen

She joins a list of commoners who have struggled to adapt to royal life, from Japan’s Empress Masako, to Meghan Markle and a former Miss Moscow who married a Malaysian sultan

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Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn with (the now former) royal noble consort Sineenat ‘Koi’ Wongvajirapakdi. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:30pm, 22 Oct 2019Updated: 9:24am, 18 Nov 2019

Wealth and fame, power and privilege, adoring subjects and sparkling tiaras. It might sound like an enviable job description, but aspiring princesses could be forgiven if recent events were enough to make them rethink their royal ambitions.

The news on Monday that Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn had stripped his royal consort Sineenat ‘Koi’ Wongvajirapakdi of all her titles for “disloyalty” and an “ambition” to displace the queen was just the latest example of quite how easy it is for newly minted royals to fall from grace.

Just three months after the former nurse and qualified pilot, 34, was appointed consort in what was supposedly a move to “reduce tension and potential trouble” in the royal household, the Royal Gazette reported that “His Majesty has monitored her behaviour since and found she was lacking of gratitude or actions fit for her position. She was not satisfied with the position granted and has acted in every way to match herself with Her Majesty the Queen”.

Fall from grace: Thai Royal Noble Consort Sineenat ‘Koi’ Wongvajirapakdi. Photo: EPA

The statement has shocked the Thai public, not only for its unprecedented level of detail, but because Koi had been enjoying an increasingly high profile since unusually intimate pictures of her and the king appeared on the royal bureau’s website in August. Those photos, which included images of Koi flying, shooting and skydiving, went viral in Thailand and were followed by her taking on increased duties at the events of royally supported projects, though always on her own.

Observers have likened the suddenness of Koi’s demise to that of the king’s third wife, Srirasmi Suwadee, who has not been seen in public since he ended their marriage in December 2014 after her relatives were arrested and accused of misusing their royal statuses for personal gain. He also denounced his second wife, who fled to the US, and disowned their sons. But Koi’s case also features uncomfortable parallels to that of Malaysia’s Sultan Muhammad V, who as hereditary monarch of the state of Kelantan abdicated in January after marrying the Russian ex-beauty queen Oksana Voevodina. Within just months of the abdication, which shocked the nation, the union dissolved in bitter acrimony and divorce amid the publication of again unusually intimate photographs, this time of the couple’s wedding, posted by the former Miss Moscow on her Instagram account.

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