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The King of Thailand has reinstated his royal consort nearly a year after she was abruptly stripped of her titles and accused of trying to undermine the queen.
An advertisement in the Royal Gazette said that Sineenatra Wongvajirabhakdi had not committed any crime. “From now on, it will be as if she has never been stripped of her military ranks or royal decorations,” it said.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn awarded the rank of Chao Khun Phra in Sineenat on his 67th birthday last year, the first time in nearly a century that a Thai monarch had taken a consort.
Months later, in a move that shocked Thai society, she was accused of “disloyalty” and of trying to convince the king to raise her to the same level as his fourth wife and current queen, Suthida Tidjai.
Subsequently, Sineenat was stripped of all titles, images of her disappeared from the palace’s website, and an unofficial Instagram created under her name was removed.
The Thai monarchy is protected by some of the strictest lese majesty laws in the world, making it a crime to criticize, defame or insult members of the royal family. In practice, this means that open discussion or critical reporting on the monarchy is considered illegal. In recent months, however, a burgeoning youth-led democracy movement has challenged those laws and called for the king’s powers to be curtailed.
The king, who spends most of his time living in Germany, succeeded his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 2016. Since then he has strengthened his authority, putting under his direct control the wealth of the crown and key units of the army.
Sineenatra had not been seen publicly since her dramatic fall from grace, and her whereabouts were never clarified.
The king has seven children from three previous marriages, all of which ended in divorce. In 2014, he stripped his third wife, Srirasmi Akrapongpreecha, of most of her titles and arrested members of her family. His second wife, Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, fled to the United States after he denounced her in 1996 and disowned their four children.
Both Queen Suthida, 42, and Sineenat, 35, have served as senior officers in the palace’s security units. Suthida was previously a flight attendant at Thai Airways, while Sineenat was an army nurse.
Last year, after Sineenat was appointed consort, the palace published rare images and a biography of her. The dozens of images showed her in a camouflage uniform, participating in military drills, piloting a plane and laughing at a table with the king.
In one of the photos, she was shown in traditional Thai dress standing next to him and holding his hand, an unusually intimate image for members of the royal family.
Student-led pro-democracy protests take place almost daily and have spread across the country. At rallies, some have worn posters or T-shirts that read “How is the weather in Germany?”, “Send love to Germany” and other coded criticism of the king.
Some have explicitly called for reform. Last month, at a rally attended by thousands, a group of students surprised many observers by issuing a 10-point list of demands. The protesters said that criticism of the monarchy should be allowed, that less public money should be allocated to the king’s budget and that the monarchy should not interfere with politics.
No protesters have been charged with lese majesty, but some have been charged with sedition, which carries a sentence of up to seven years.
