Thai princess Bajrakitiyabha dies at age 47

Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha has died at the age of 47 after spending nearly four years in a coma, The Guardian reported.

The eldest child of King Maha Vajiralongkorn was hospitalized in December 2022 after suffering severe health complications related to a heart condition. Since then, the palace released only limited updates on her condition. In May, officials reported that her health had deteriorated due to multiple infections affecting several organs and that doctors had been unable to stabilize her heart rhythm.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha was born in 1978 and earned several academic degrees, including a doctorate from Cornell University. She held a number of public roles throughout her career, serving as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria, for example, or a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Her death is expected to draw attention to questions surrounding Thailand’s royal succession, a topic that is rarely discussed publicly because of the country’s strict lese majesty laws.

King Vajiralongkorn has seven children. Among them, only Princess Bajrakitiyabha, Princess Sirivannavari and Prince Dipangkorn hold royal titles. Some observers had previously viewed Bajrakitiyabha as a potential future figure in the monarchy, although no official succession plans have ever been announced.