He’s currently threatening to shut down Facebook Thailand after footage of him wandering a shopping mall wearing a yellow crop top surfaced online.
But that aside, there’s plenty more to love about Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Having lived most of his life under the radar, the new King has suddenly found himself in the public eye following the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej after a 70 year rule last year.
However, despite the new title and the rather large heap responsibility, King V seems determined to march to the beat of his own royal drum.
Here are seven fast facts about the midriff bearing monarch:
1. He’s fond of the crop top. While his day job required him to dress conservatively, King Vajiralongkorn has been spotted wearing a variety of different crop tops when he believes he is incognito.
2. He was spoiled rotten as a child: The King once admitted that he was unable to tie his own shoelaces at age 12. Palace servants has always tied them.
3. He has been married three times, first in 1977 to Princess Soamsawali Kitiyakara, his first cousin on his mother’s side. They had one daughter. When they divorced, Vajiralongkorn accused Princess Soamsawali of being completely at fault for the failed relationship. Because of the prohibition against lèse majesté (in Thailand it’s illegal to defame, insult, or threaten the king) she could not defend herself.
4. Later, he married actress Yuvadhida Polpraserth. The couple had three sons and a daughter. When Yuvadhida took the children to live in Britain, Vajiralongkorn placed posters outside the palace accusing her of adultery. The prince abducted the daughter and brought her back to Thailand, where she received the rank of princess. The princess’s mother and her sons were stripped of their diplomatic passports and royal titles.
5. He divorced his third wife Srirasmi Suwadee in 2014 after claiming her relatives were corrupt. Altogether, he has seven children.
Srirasmi: divorced and humiliated.
Foo Foo: dead.
Vajiralongkorn: Thailand’s next king? pic.twitter.com/XMTyCi5igG— Andrew MacG Marshall (@zenjournalist) February 4, 2015
6. But not before she appeared in a leaked 2007 video showing her feeding a birthday cake to the Prince’s poodle while wearing only a G-string.
7. The King adored his dog FuFu. In fact, he even gave him the honour Air Chief Marshall FuFu and brought him to an official dinner “dressed in formal evening attire complete with paw mitts”.
8. When FuFu died last year, he held a four-day Buddhist funeral and cremation in honour of the animal.
Main image: The New Daily
