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Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol has died aged 47, more than three years after she was hospitalised following a sudden illness, the royal palace announced on Friday.
The king’s eldest daughter was suffering from an abdominal infection and was relying on medical devices to support her lung and kidney functions, until she passed away peacefully on Thursday evening.
She will lie in state at the Grand Palace in Bangkok and her funeral will be held “with the highest honours according to royal tradition”, the Bureau of the Royal Household added.
Known in Thailand as Princess Bha, the only child from King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s first marriage had been in hospital since falling ill suddenly in December 2022. The palace said she had a mycoplasma infection, a bacterial infection usually associated with pneumonia.
“This loss is not merely bad news announced to the people, but an immeasurable grief in the hearts of the entire nation,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a televised speech.
He said the princess was the “pride of Thailand,” and that “her commitment to building a society of kindness, justice, and equality, will forever remain as a moral legacy for the nation, a guiding light for generations of Thais.”
Bajrakitiyabha studied law at Thammasat University before earning a master’s degree and doctorate in the same subject at Cornell University in the US.
Her PhD dissertation focused on the protection of the rights of the accused, and she would go on to campaign for the living conditions of women prisoners and promote efforts to stem violence against women.
The UN General Assembly adopted the “Bangkok Rules” on care and conditions for female prisoners following her efforts and a program for the exchange of legal scholars between Thailand and Cornell was later established in her name.
After working briefly at the Thai Mission to the UN in New York, she returned home and worked as a public prosecutor. She renewed her diplomatic career with an appointment as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria from 2012 to 2014 before returning to her homeland to concentrate on criminal justice issues.
Thai scholar Pavin Chachavalpongpun, known for his criticism of the monarchy, recalled meeting the princess in Singapore, describing her as someone who “treated every civil servant with kindness and respect”.
At Chulalongkorn Hospital, where Bajrakitiyabha had been receiving treatment, mourners gathered Friday to pay their respects – some clutching portraits of the late princess.
Additional sources • AFP, AP