Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, a lawyer and the eldest of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s children, has died at 47, the Bureau of the Royal Household said.
She died on Thursday evening at a Bangkok hospital where she had been cared for since falling unconscious due to illness three years ago, according to the statement issued Friday.
“This loss is not merely bad news announced to the people, but an immeasurable grief in the hearts of the entire nation,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a televised speech.
He said the princess was “a pride of Thailand,” and 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.”
A small group of mourners gathered in an atrium at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, where the princess had been treated. Most held framed or laminated photos of her throughout the years.
Bajrakitiyabha was active in justice reform efforts and best known for her Kamlangjai, or “Inspire,” project to help rehabilitate incarcerated Thai women ahead of their release.
She was hospitalised in December 2022 after falling unconscious while training dogs for an army exhibition. The palace said she had a mycoplasma infection, a bacterial infection usually associated with pneumonia.
The princess was born on December 7, 1978, to Vajiralongkorn, who was the crown prince at the time, and his then-wife, Princess Soamsawali. Vajiralongkorn has seven children by three of his four successive wives. Bajrakitiyabha was also known by the royal name Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, used in formal state settings.
Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, the youngest of the king’s children, is the presumptive heir because sons take precedence in Thailand’s line of succession. But Bajrakitiyabha’s experience in public service raised speculation she was set to hold an important role in any future succession, perhaps as regent to a youthful monarch.
Bajrakitiyabha studied law at Thammasat University then went to Cornell University in New York state, where she earned a master’s degree in law and a doctorate.
After working briefly at the Thai Mission to the UN in New York City, she returned home and worked as a public prosecutor. She renewed her diplomatic career with an appointment as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria from 2012 to 2014 before returning to her homeland to concentrate on criminal justice issues.
In 2017 she was appointed a goodwill ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
In addition to working for the rehabilitation of female convicts, she was involved in other projects including a campaign to enhance the living conditions of women prisoners and promoting efforts to stem violence against women as an honorary UN goodwill ambassador for women. Her efforts led to the U.N. General Assembly adopting the “Bangkok Rules” on care and conditions for female prisoners.
Bajrakitiyabha is survived by her parents and siblings.
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