Sirikit remembered for charitable work and maternal virtue

Thailand’s former queen Sirikit, who brought glamour and elegance to a postwar revival in the country’s monarchy and who, in later years, would occasionally wade into politics, has died aged 93, the Thai Royal Household Bureau said on Oct 25.

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She had been out of the public eye since a stroke in 2012.

The palace said she had been hospitalised since 2019 due to several illnesses and developed a bloodstream infection on Oct 17 before dying late on Oct 24.

A mourning period of one year has been declared for members of the royal family and household.

The government said public offices would fly flags at half-mast for a month and asked government officials to observe mourning for one year.

Entertainment venues were asked to suspend activities for a month.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cancelled trips to the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur and the Apec summit in South Korea due to her death.

He told reporters he would travel to Malaysia to sign a ceasefire agreement with Cambodia on Oct 26 but return to Thailand afterwards.

Sirikit’s husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was Thailand’s longest-reigning monarch, spending 70 years on the throne since 1946.

She was at his side for much of that time, winning over hearts at home with their charity work.

When they travelled abroad, she also charmed the world’s media with her beauty as well as her fashion sense.

During a 1960 visit to the United States that included a state dinner at the White House, Time magazine called her “svelte” and “arch-feminist”.