Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, an influential fashion icon, has died at the age of 93

Thailand’s Queen Mother, Sirikit, who brought charm and elegance to the country’s post-war recovery of the monarchy and who occasionally dabbled in politics in later years, has died at the age of 93, the Thai Royal Family Office announced on Saturday.

Sirikit has remained out of the public eye since suffering a stroke in 2012.

She had been hospitalized since 2019 due to several illnesses and developed a bloodstream infection on October 17 before she died late Friday, the palace said.

A one-year mourning period was declared for members of the royal family and the family.

The government said public offices would fly flags at half-staff for a month and asked government officials to mourn for a year.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul rescinded his decision A trip to the ASEAN Summit In Kuala Lumpur due to the death of the Queen Mother.

He told reporters that he would travel to Malaysia to sign a ceasefire agreement with Cambodia on Sunday but would return to Thailand afterward.

The elegance icon that enchanted the world

Sirikit’s husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was Thailand’s longest-reigning monarch, having sat on the throne for 70 years since 1946.

She was by his side through much of it, winning the hearts of people at home through their charitable acts.

When they traveled abroad, she also charmed the international media with her beauty and fashion sense.

During a 1960 visit to the United States that included a state dinner at the White House, Time magazine called her “graceful” and a “major feminist.” The French daily newspaper L’Oriente described her as “charming”.

Born in 1932, the year Thailand transitioned from a constitutional monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, Sirikit Kitiyakara was the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France and lived a life of wealth and privilege.

While studying music and language in Paris, she met Bhumibol, who spent parts of his childhood in Switzerland.

“It was hate at first sight,” she said in a BBC documentary, noting that he arrived late to their first meeting. “And then it was love.”

The couple spent time together in Paris, and became engaged in 1949. They married in Thailand a year later when she was 17 years old.

Always elegant, Sirikit collaborated with French fashion designer Pierre Balmain to design eye-catching garments made from Thai silk.

By supporting the preservation of traditional weaving practices, it is credited with helping to revitalize Thailand’s silk industry.

Support rural development

For more than four decades, she traveled frequently with the king to remote Thai villages, promoting development projects for the rural poor – and their activities were broadcast on television every night in the country’s Royal Bulletin.

She was regent briefly in 1956, when her husband spent two weeks at the temple, studying to become a Buddhist monk in a rite of passage common in Thailand.

In 1976, her birthday, August 12, became Mother’s Day and a national holiday in Thailand.

Her only son, now King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, succeeded Bhumibol after his death in 2016 Upon his coronation in 2019, Sirikit’s official title became Queen Mother.

Officially, the monarchy is above politics in Thailand, whose recent history has been dominated by coups and unstable governments. However, on occasion, members of the royal family, including Sirikit, intervene or take actions that are perceived as political.

In 1998, she used her birthday speech to urge Thais to unite behind then-Prime Minister Quan Likpai, dealing a devastating blow to the opposition’s plan to hold a no-confidence debate in the hope of forcing new elections.

Later, it became associated with a political movement, the royalist People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), whose protests brought down governments led by or allied with Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist former telecommunications tycoon.

In 2008, Sirikit attended the funeral of a PAD protester who was killed in clashes with police, implying royal support for a campaign that helped topple the pro-Thaksin government a year earlier.

For many Thais, she will be remembered for her charitable work and as a symbol of maternal virtue.

Her death will be treated with respect in a country where any criticism is prevented by strictly enforced lese majeste laws, which provide potential prison sentences for insulting members of the royal family, even those who are dead.

The government asked the private sector to adjust holiday activities to align with the national mourning period.

K-pop group Blackpink, which includes a Thai member, will go ahead with its scheduled concerts this weekend, with organizers asking partygoers to wear black and white clothing as a sign of respect.

Mourners dressed in black gathered on Saturday in front of Chulalongkorn Hospital where Sirikit died.

Maninat Lawalert, 67, who lives in Bangkok, said: “When I learned the news, my world stopped and flashes of the past appeared in my mind about all the things Her Majesty did for us.”

Sirikit was survived by her son, the king, and three daughters.