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HISTORY & MONARCHY

 

 

 

  Queen Sunandha's tragic boat

 

Thailand

 

 

The remnants of the tragic boat used by Queen Sunandha Kumariratana (fig.), a half-sister and one of four principal queens of King Chulalongkorn (fig.), i.e. Rama V (fig.), on her last journey to the Royal Summer Palace (fig.) in Bang Pa-in. When the boat on 31 May 1880 got involved in a freak accident and capsized, the queen, her daughter Princess Kannaphon Phetcharat (fig.) and her unborn son were killed. Despite the presence of many onlookers, no one dare come to their rescue as they were drowning, as the law forbade commoners to touch any royal, even in order to save their lives. It is today kept at the compound of the Bang Pa-in Summer Palace near Ayutthaya (fig.).

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