Rambai Barni

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Rambai Barni" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Rambai Barni รำไพพรรณี
Queen consort of Siam
Tenure	25 November 1925 – 2 March 1935
Coronation	25 February 1926
Born	Mom Chao Rambhai Barni Svastivatana (1904-12-20)20 December 1904 Bangkok, Siam
Died	22 May 1984(1984-05-22) (aged 79) Bangkok, Thailand
Burial	9 April 1985 Royal Crematorium, Sanam Luang , Bangkok, Thailand
Spouse	Prajadhipok (Rama VII) ​ ​ (m. 1918; died 1941)​
House	Svastivatana (Chakri dynasty)
Father	Svasti Sobhana
Mother	Abha Barni
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Signature

Rambai Barni (Thai: รำไพพรรณี, RTGS: Ramphaiphanni, pronounced [rām.pʰāj.pʰān.nīː]), formerly Rambai Barni Svastivatana (Thai: รำไพพรรณี สวัสดิวัตน์, RTGS: Ramphaiphanni Sawatdiwat; born 20 December 1904 – 22 May 1984), was Queen of Siam as the wife of King Prajadhipok of Siam.^[1]

Early life

Princess Rambai Barni Svastivatana was born on 20 December 1904, to Prince Svasti Sobhana, the Prince of Svastivatana Visishta (a son of HM King

In 1925, King Vajiravudh died without leaving any male issue (his only daughter, Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda, was born a day earlier and palace law dictated that the throne must pass to the next male full-sibling of the king). The crown was then passed on to his younger brother and heir. Princess Rambai Barni's husband ascended the throne as King Prajadhipok (or Rama VII), she was immediately invested with title of Queen Consort of Siam after her husband's own coronation ceremony. Prajadhipok followed his brother's abandonment of polygamy and instead had one queen. Both the king and queen received modern European educations in their youth. Once they inherited the throne they set about modernizing the institution of monarchy, copying European dress and customs.

The king and queen spent most of their time away from

In the early stages of the constitutional monarchy, the King and the royalists seemed to be able to compromise with Khana Ratsadon. The constitutional bill which was drafted by

The compromise broke down quickly. He did not contest when his interpretation of Pridi's economic plan, which also aim on land reform and seizure of royal land, was released with his signature. The King played a role in the coup d'état of April 1933 where the House was ordered to close by the Prime Minister. He signed an order to execute Khana Ratsadon leaders. But Khana Ratsadon's military wing leader

He played an active role in an anti-revolutionary network, which also aim to assassinate Khana Ratsadon's leaders.^[2]: 27

In October 1933, the maverick Prince

The King did not directly supported the rebellion, but there was a check from the treasury to Boworadej.^[2]: 11 The insurrection diminished the king's prestige. When the revolt began, Prajadhipok immediately informed the government that he regretted the strife and civil disturbances. The royal couple then took refuge at Songkhla, in the far south. The king's withdrawal from the scene was interpreted by the Khana Ratsadorn as a failure to do his duty. By not throwing his full support behind government forces, he had undermined their trust in him.^[3]

In 1933, the couple left Siam for Europe where the king was due to have an eye operation in England. Despite the long distance the king continued to fight with his government back in Bangkok, through letters and telegrams. The fight came to a head when the government refused to accept Prajadhipok's ancient power of pardon. The king first threatened, but when he was ignored, decided to abdicate his throne on 2 March 1935. He was succeeded by his nephew Ananda Mahidol. The couple settled in Surrey, first at Knowle House, then at Glen Pammant.

Life in exile

The couple moved again to Vane Court, the oldest house in the village of Biddenden in

Due to active bombing by the German Luftwaffe in 1940, the couple again moved, first to a small house in Devon, and then to Lake Vyrnwy Hotel in Powys, Wales, where the former king suffered a heart attack. King Prajadhipok eventually died from heart failure on 30 May 1941.

Leader of the resistance

After the King's death, the queen became more involved in politics. In December 1941 the Japanese Empire invaded and occupied Thailand. The Japanese government forced the Thai government to declare war on both the United Kingdom and the United States. Regent Pridi Banomyong built the anti-Japanese underground, the Free Thai Movement ("Seri Thai") network, in Thailand. The Free Thai Movement was set up partially by Thai exiles living abroad. The movement included many diplomats, students, and members of the royal family.

The queen and her brother, Prince Subhasvastiwongse Snith Svastivatana, made clear their Free Thai sympathies and used their connections to assist like-minded students in organising a resistance movement in the UK. She was among the four women who volunteered for non-military tasks with the Free Thai. Despite not being an official member, the queen assisted the movement through fund raising and lobbying influential ministers.

Return and death

On the morning of 9 June 1946, the young King

Pridi's opponents composed of royalist, conservative and military camps. On 8 November 1947, army troops seized various government installations in Bangkok. The coup, led by Lieutenant General Phin Choonhavan and Colonel Kat Katsongkhram, ousted Thamrong's government, which is the political ally of Pridi. He spent a week hiding in Admiral Sindhu Songkhramchai's headquarters. On 20 November, he was spirited to Singapore by British and US agents.^[8] The 1947 coup marked the return to power of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram, and the end of Khana Ratsadon's role in Thai politics. (At this time, Phibun was often considered in the military camp.)

In 1948, the royalist government made a law that increase the power to control the Crown Property by the monarch as the restoration of their political power and assets, which was taken to the state property by the People Party from the Siamese revolution of 1932. Additionally, former Queen Rambai Barni was returned the 6 million baht that the People Party seized.^[9]

The coup inadvertently led to the draft and signing of the

In 1949, the queen was invited to return to Thailand, bringing with her the king's ashes. After her return she continued to carry out many official duties on behalf of the new king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. She spent the rest of her life at Sukhothai Palace, dying in 1984 at the age of 79. She was cremated in a grand royal funeral presided over by her nephew the king at Sanam Luang in front of the Grand Palace.

Ancestry

Taxon named in her honor

Mugilogobius rambaiae is named in honor of Her Majesty Rambai Barni (1904-1984), the former Queen of Siam; As an interesting aside, in 1934 a water-color painting showing several life-size renderings of this goby in its natural habitat was given to her majesty.^[11]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rambai Barni.