Thai King reinstates disgraced royal consort

Bangkok, Sep 2 Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn on Wednesday reinstated his royal consort, after she was stripped of her rank last October for trying to elevate herself to "the same state as the queen".

According to a Royal Gazette, the King returned Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi's rank and titles earlier in the day, reports the BBC.

She was the first royal consort after almost a century in Thailand, where the term refers to a companion or partner in addition to the king's wife.

Sineenat had worked as a nurse before becoming the King's bodyguard an pilot, and later also joined the royal guards. In early 2019, she was appointed a major-general.

She received the official title of first Royal Noble Consort in July last year, shortly after King Vajiralongkorn married his fourth wife, Queen Suthida.

While stripping off the ranks, the Palace had also accused Sineenat of "misbehaviour and disloyalty against the monarch".

The last time a Thai monarch had a consort was in the 1920s and the title had not been used since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

( With inputs from IANS )