Monarch grants new titles to royal family

BANGKOK: Thailand’s newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn granted new titles to the members of the royal family after he was crowned in the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

The king and his wife Queen Suthida arrived at the Amarindra Vinijaya Throne Hall in the Grand Palace to attend the ceremony on Sunday morning.

The king firstly named his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, as “Maha Raja”, or “Great King”, and named his mother Sirikit the Queen Mother, who didn’t attend the ceremony.

The king bestowed new titles to his two sisters, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn Walailak, his two daughters Bajrakitiyabha and Sirivannavari Nariratana, and his son Dipangkorn Rasmijoti.

During the ceremony, the king poured sacred water on the heads of every attending member of the royal family, who knelt in front of him, and gave them auspicious bael leaves tucked behind their right ears.

According to Thai TV, bael trifoliate leaves stand for the triple deities of Brahmanism – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The new granted titles reflect the royal family’s relationship with the current king as their former titles signify their relationship with late King Bhumibol.

Princess Sirindhorn was bestowed the highest of royal ranks by appointment – Krom Somdej Phra, and the first verse of her new title includes the Sanskrit phrase “Kanistha Adhiraja”, which respectively means “king’s younger sister” and “paramount lord”.