BANGKOK — The Thai Royal Household Bureau said on Saturday that Queen Mother Sirikit of Thailand had died at the age of 93. She was admired around the world for her grace and deeply respected at home for her philanthropic activities.
The Queen Mother, who lived through the change from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one in Thailand, had not been in the public eye since she had a stroke in 2012. Her son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), and three daughters are still alive.
A Life of Royal Partnership and Worldly Importance
Sirikit Kitiyakara was born in 1932. She was the daughter of Thailand’s ambassador to France and came from a rich and powerful family. She met the future King Bhumibol Adulyadej while studying music and language in Paris. He had lived in Switzerland for part of his youth.
The Queen Mother talked about their first meeting in a BBC program and joked that “it was hate at first sight” because he was late. “Then it was love,” she said. In 1949, the pair became engaged, and a year later, when Sirikit was only 17, they got married.
She was with her husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, for 70 years, which is the longest reign in Thai history. They captured the hearts of the public by doing a lot of charitable work and development projects for the rural poor. These were shown on the Royal Bulletin, which was televised regularly.
Queen Sirikit became a world-famous fashion symbol outside of Thailand. During state trips, she wowed the world’s media with her stunning looks and perfect sense of style. Time magazine labeled her “svelte” and “archfeminist” during a state banquet in the US in 1960. The French daily L’Aurore called her “ravishing.”
The Return of Thai Silk and National Motherhood
The resurgence of Thailand’s textile arts is a big part of her legacy. She was always fashionable, and she worked with famous French couturier Pierre Balmain to make beautiful clothes out of Thai silk. She is widely acknowledged for helping to revive the whole Thai silk industry, turning a local craft into a global luxury item. She does this by actively promoting the preservation of ancient weaving processes.
When the King went into a temple to become a Buddhist monk in 1956, she was momentarily named Regent. This was a typical rite of passage for the King. In 1976, her birthday, August 12, was made Mother’s Day and a national holiday in honor of her ongoing influence.
She officially became the Queen Mother after King Bhumibol died in 2016 and their son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, was crowned in 2019.
Political Actions in a Chaotic Past
In Thailand, the monarchy is ostensibly non-political, however Queen Sirikit sometimes used her power. The country often has coups and unstable governments.
In 1998, she used her annual birthday speech to ask everyone to support then-Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, which stopped the opposition from having a scheduled no-confidence discussion.
Later, it was clear that she was linked to the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a royalist political group. In 2008, her participation at the funeral of a PAD protester who had been murdered in a fight with police was widely seen as a sign of royal support for the group, which had helped to get rid of a pro-Thaksin Shinawatra government a year earlier.
But for most Thais, she will always remain a symbol of elegance, kindness, and maternal virtue. In Thailand, where harsh lese-majeste laws make it illegal to say anything bad about the royal family, her death would be treated with the highest respect.