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...Thailand’s king has stripped his consort of her royal titles and military ranks for “disloyalty” and “ambition” to match the queen’s position. https://t.co/jJkk7004x9 pic.twitter.com/GH3L7qEfoL— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) October 22, 2019
The king's wives
Source: BBC
Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn has had four wives - Princess Soamsawali from 1977 to 1993; Yuvadhida Polpraserth from 1994 to 1996; Srirasmi Suwadee between 2001 and 2014; and Queen Suthida.
The true cause of Sineenat's removal as royal consort may never be made public, given the secrecy which cloaks palace affairs in Thailand. The nation's lese-majeste law forbids any insult of the monarchy and is among the strictest in the world.
The removal of Sineenat echoes the cases of two of the King's former wives. In 1996, he denounced his second wife, who fled to the United States, and disowned four sons he had with her.
In 2014, his third wife Srirasmi Suwadee was similarly stripped of all her titles and banished from court. Her 14-year-old son has been raised by King Vajiralongkorn in Germany and Switzerland.
The King has also exercised his royal powers in a more direct way than his recent predecessors. Earlier this month, the two most important army units in the capital, Bangkok were placed directly under his command - a concentration of military power in royal hands unprecedented in modern Thailand.
