Thailand’s king on Monday stripped his royal consort of her titles, accusing her of being “disloyal” and trying to rival his official wife, the queen.
The palace announced the swift demotion of Sineenatra Wongvajirabhakdi, 34, just three months after she was granted the title of royal consort, or junior wife, by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
“Royal Noble Consort Sineenat is ungrateful and behaves in ways unbecoming of her title,” the palace said in a statement. “She is also not content with the title bestowed upon her, doing everything to rise to the level of the queen.”
A former royal bodyguard, pilot and ex-army nurse, Sineenatra, was the first person to be awarded the title of Royal Noble Consort in nearly a century.
Her appointment occurred just a month after King Vajiralongkorn married former Thai Airways flight attendant Suthida Tidjai, 41, who was also the deputy head of his personal bodyguard.
But Sineenatra had apparently tried to stop the new queen’s appointment in order to take the position herself. When she failed to block her rival, her “ambitions and aspirations” led her to find other ways to promote herself, the palace said.
The king tried to appease her by making her his official consort but, “She wasn’t satisfied with the royally bestowed position and still did everything to be equal to the queen,” the palace said.
The consort apparently tried to undermine the queen, behaving in a “dishonorable” manner, falsely claiming that she had the power to order people around.
Her actions drove “a rift among the royal servants, making misunderstanding among the people, and undermining the nation and the monarchy.”
Sineenatra’s recent whereabouts haven’t been publicized.
King Vajiralongkorn has seven children by three previous marriages, all of which ended in divorce.
With Post wires