Thailand's princess dies aged 47 after years in coma as royal family issue statement
Topics: Thailand, World News
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Vachira Vachira/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Thailand, World News
Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol has died aged 47 after three years in a coma, it has been confirmed.
The eldest child of King Maha Vajiralongkorn collapsed in December 2022 while she was on a walk with her dogs. After tests, healthcare professionals said that was down to a severely irregular heartbeat, as a result of a mycoplasma infection in her heart.
The Thai Royal Family said the princess was suffering from an abdominal infection and that her 'condition continued to worsen'.
She 'passed away peacefully' on Thursday evening, Bureau of the Royal Household said in a statement.
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The palace added in a statement: "The medical team provided the closest and most intensive care possible, but her condition continued to decline progressively."
Princess Bajrakitiyabha will lie in state at the Grand Palace in Thailand's capital ahead of a state funeral, which will be held 'with the highest honours according to royal tradition'.
Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul addressed the nation after the tragic news was announced, saying the princess was 'a pride of Thailand'.
He said: "This loss is not merely bad news announced to the people, but an immeasurable grief in the hearts of the entire nation."
Charnvirakul went on to say that "her commitment to building a society of kindness, justice, and equality, will forever remain as a moral legacy for the nation, a guiding light for generations of Thais."
The princess graduated as a lawyer as she obtained two post-graduate degrees at Cornell University in the US.
She held a number of roles, including Thailand's ambassador to Austria, as well as chief of staff in her father's private bodyguard.