Thailand King Marries Bodyguard Ahead of Coronation

Few days ahead of his official coronation, the King of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn married the deputy head of his personal security guard, Suthida Tidjai and gave her the title Queen Suthida.

The surprise announcement of 66-year-old King Vajiralongkorn wedding to the 40-year-old former flight attendant was made in the Royal Gazette through a royal statement followed by the footage of wedding ceremony shown on all Thai television channels on Wednesday.

According to Thailand’s royal statement says, “the king has decided to promote General Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, his royal consort, to become Queen Suthida and she will hold royal title and status as part of the royal family.”

Among the dignitaries, who attended the wedding were members of the royal family, palace advisers and also Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of the military junta that has run Thailand since 2014 after an army coup, the wedding footage on the channel showed.

King Vajiralongkorn, who is also known by the title of King Rama X, became constitutional monarch of Thailand immediately after the death of his revered father King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October 2016. King Bhumidol who was on the throne for 70 years.

Vajiralongkorn will now be officially crowned in elaborate ceremonies with Brahmin and Buddhist rituals this Saturday, followed by a procession throughout the Bangkok city, the next day.

Vajiralongkorn's association with Suthida dates back to the year 2014, when he appointed Suthida Tidjai as the deputy commander of his bodyguard unit. She was a former flight attendant associated with Thai Airways.

The king made Suthida, the General in the Royal Thai Army in December 2016. He also gave her the royal title of Thanpuying, which means Lady.

Some foreign media and foreign observers have linked Suthida romantically with the king, but it became public only when the king announced that he had married her, making her his fourth wife and queen.

Vajiralongkorn is regarded as the richest royal in the world because in the year 2016 the king signed the $30 billion family fortune over to himself.  He has previously been married and divorced three times and has seven children.

Vajiralongkorn is not the only royal to marry a commoner. The Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, also known as Kate and Meghan are both commoners and so was Michiko Shoda, who became empress of Japan when Emperor Akihito married her in 1959. Emperor Akihito has abdicated the throne earlier this week.