Thai Princess taken to Grand Palace

Princess Bajrakitiyabha was taken from the Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital to the Grand Palace in a solemn procession through Bangkok. 

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has lost his mother and daughter in less than a year, following the death of Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, in October 2025 and the death of his eldest daughter, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, on Thursday evening. The highly respected unofficial heir to the throne had suffered a sudden cardiac episode while walking her dogs in December 2022.

The Princess was airlifted to a hospital in Bangkok, where she was on life-supporting machines for over three and a half years. Throughout her hospitalisation, there were a total of seven updates on her health, both good and bad, until her death from a severe abdominal infection this month.

Bajrakitiyabha, a lawyer and diplomat, departed the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital for the last time inside the same 2001 Volkswagen Caravelle T4, with registration number 1D-0929, used for her grandparents, King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, in 2016 and 2025, respectively. Crowds of mourners lined the streets in deep grief for their much beloved ‘Princess Bha’.

The procession followed the same route used last October for Queen Sirikit, with a span of around 10 kilometres, taking approximately 25 minutes. King Rama X and Queen Suthida were seen with tears in their eyes.

Photo: Royal Office of Thailand

The Princess’s body was then taken inside the Pimarn Rattaya Throne Hall of the Grand Palace, where the coffin was placed, in a similar fashion to Queen Sirikit, behind an ornately decorated urn alongside Thai Royal Army soldiers standing guard. A merit-making ceremony was then performed with other members of the Thai royal family in attendance.

The late Princess will now lie in state, with the public able to pay their respects, after the 15th day of her passing.