Vajiralongkorn

Biography

Vajiralongkorn was born in 1952, the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. After early schooling in Thailand he was educated in England, at King's Mead preparatory school and then Millfield School, where he finished secondary school in 1970. He then trained in Australia, entering the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1972.

He was made crown prince in 1972 and served as an officer in the Royal Thai Army, training with British, Australian and American forces and qualifying as a military jet pilot and commercial airline pilot. During the 1970s he saw combat against the insurgency of the Communist Party of Thailand.

He became king on his father's death on 13 October 2016, delaying his formal proclamation until 1 December 2016, and was crowned in May 2019. His reign has concentrated power and wealth in the crown: he obtained changes to royal prerogatives in the draft 2017 constitution, took direct ownership of the assets of the Crown Property Bureau and placed key military and security units under his own command. These moves, his long stays in Germany and his personal life drew wide attention and fed the 2020–2021 protests calling for reform of the monarchy. He has been married five times and has seven children, and is regarded as the world's wealthiest monarch.