Thai princess dies at 47: "Immense sadness in the hearts of the entire nation"

Thai Princess Bajrakitiyaba Mahidol, a lawyer and the eldest child of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, has died at the age of 47, the royal household announced today.

She died last night in a Bangkok hospital where she had been receiving treatment for more than three years, the statement said.

Prime Minister Anutin Charvirakul said in a televised address that her death was "a huge sorrow in the hearts of the entire nation."

He said the princess was "the pride of Thailand" and that her dedication to building "a society of justice and equality will remain forever as a moral legacy for the nation."

The princess was active in efforts to reform the judiciary, and is best known for her project to rehabilitate Thai female prisoners before their release from prison.

Princess Bajrakitiyabha was taken to hospital in December 2022 after she collapsed while training dogs for a military exhibition. The palace said she had a mycoplasma infection, a bacterial infection commonly associated with pneumonia.

The king's New Year's card for 2023 showed King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida dressed in black, which many Thais believed confirmed the seriousness of her condition.

Although Prince Dipangkorn Rasmoijo, who is the king's youngest child, is considered the heir to the throne because sons have precedence in the Thai line of succession, Bajrakitiyabha and her experience in public service have sparked speculation that she will play an important role in the future succession, perhaps as regent for the young monarch.

The princess studied law at Thammasat University and then attended Cornell University in the US state of New York, where she received a Master of Laws degree in 2002. She received her doctorate from Cornell in 2005 with a dissertation on the protection of the rights of the accused. Later, scholarships were established for Cornell Law School and a law student exchange program between Thailand and Cornell.

She briefly worked at the Thai mission to the United Nations (UN) in New York before returning to the country as a public prosecutor. In 2017, the princess was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.