Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, known for her elegance and charm in the country’s monarchy, passed away at the age of 93, as announced by the Thai Royal Household bureau on Saturday.
Sirikit had been absent from public view since suffering a stroke in 2012.
Her husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand’s longest-serving monarch for 70 years since 1946, was often accompanied by her, engaging in charitable activities that endeared them to the public.
On international trips, she captivated the media with her beauty and fashion choices.
During a 1960 visit to the United States, where they attended a state dinner at the White House, Time magazine praised her as “svelte” and “archfeminist.” The French publication L’Aurore described her as “ravishing.”
Born in 1932, the same year Thailand shifted to a constitutional monarchy from an absolute one, Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of Thailand’s ambassador to France, led a privileged life.
While studying music and languages in Paris, she crossed paths with Bhumibol, who had spent part of his youth in Switzerland.
“It was hate at first sight,” she recalled in a BBC documentary, reflecting on their initial meeting where he arrived late. “Then it was love.”
The couple spent time together in Paris and got engaged in 1949, marrying in Thailand a year later when she was just 17.
Always fashionable, Sirikit collaborated with French designer Pierre Balmain on striking outfits crafted from Thai silk. By supporting traditional weaving techniques, she revitalized Thailand’s silk industry.
For over four decades, she accompanied the king on visits to remote Thai villages to promote rural development projects, with their efforts broadcast nightly on the country’s Royal Bulletin.
She briefly served as regent in 1956 when her husband spent two weeks in a temple, undergoing Buddhist monk training, a common practice in Thailand.
On her birthday in 1976, Aug. 12 was declared Mother’s Day and a national holiday in Thailand.
Her son, now King Maha Vajiralongkorn or Rama X, assumed the throne after Bhumibol’s passing in 2016, making Sirikit the Queen Mother upon his coronation in 2019.
While the Thai monarchy officially stays out of politics, Sirikit and other royals occasionally involved themselves in political matters.