Reuters via Handout King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his consort, General Suthida Vajiralongkorn named Queen Suthida attend their wedding ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand May 1, 2019.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand married his personal bodyguard and long-time partner on Wednesday.
The wedding took the country by surprise because the royal palace had never acknowledged the couple’s relationship before.
Footage of the ceremony showed Gen. Suthida Tidjai – now known as Queen Suthida – bowing before the king before signing marriage documents in an ornate room filled with gold.
Suthida was also seen having sacred water poured on her head, the BBC reported.
Before joining Vajiralongkorn’s security detail, Suthida worked as a flight attendant on Thai Airways. She later became a general of Thailand’s army.
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The King of Thailand married one of his personal bodyguards and promoted her to Queen in a lavish and surprise ceremony on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn married Gen. Suthida Tidjai, the 40-year-old deputy head of his personal security detail and long-term partner on Wednesday, the Thai royal family said in a statement.
The wedding was a surprise because the palace had never acknowledged the couple’s relationship before, Reuters reported.
Vajiralongkorn, who inherited the throne after his father King Bhumibol died in 2016, is also known as King Rama X. It signals that he is the tenth monarch of the royal house of Chakri.
The marriage took place lawfully and in the righteous royal tradition, the statement said. The general will now be known as Queen Suthida.
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,” the statement said, according to BBC and CNN translations.
The ceremony took place in the Ampornsan Throne Hall in Bangkok, a large room filled with ornate mirrors, statuettes, and a golden shrine.
Footage of the wedding showed Suthida kneeling and bowing to the king alongside other attendees, before sitting on the throne beside him to sign marriage documents. As part of the ceremony King Rama poured sacred water onto Suthida’s head, the BBC reported.
The surprise marriage came three days before Vajiralongkorn’s long-awaited official coronation, which will take place from this Saturday to next Monday.
The coronation is taking place three years after Vajiralongkorn ascended the throne because the country went through a mourning period for the late King Bhumibol, whose royal cremation took place in 2017, The Guardian reported.
It is expected to cost at least $US30 million, The Guardian reported.
Thailand is extraordinarily reverent to its monarch, and people can be imprisoned for up to 15 years if they are seen to insult the monarchy.
The country’s strict lèse majesté rules forbids people by law to insult, defame, or threaten any members of the royal family. Suthida is now protected by those laws.
Before joining then-Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn’s bodyguard unit in 2013, Suthida worked as a flight attendant for Thai Airways.
In December 2016, Vajiralongkorn made her a full general in the Royal Thai Army shortly after ascending the throne.
This is Vajiralongkorn’s fourth marriage. He has been divorced three times and has seven children.
