Thai monarchy releases rare, candid photos of king's consort
The Thai monarchy released rare photographs of the king's consort – but the official website was unavailable within hours of the photos' upload and is still offline as of Tuesday morning.
Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 34, was given the title of royal noble consort (Chao Khun Phra Sineenatra Bilasakalayani) by the king in July, two months after he had named another woman queen and married her.
Wongvajirapakdi is a major-general in the military, trained pilot, nurse and bodyguard, according to the BBC.
The unusually candid photographs posted by the monarchy Monday illustrate an active military career in a variety of images – in the cockpit of a military plane, in camouflage gear with the king and in formal dress posed at the foot of the king's throne. They were released with an official biography.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 67, ascended the Thai throne in 2016 after the death of his father in October. King Vajiralongkorn is also known as Rama X, the 10th king of Thaliand's Chakri dynasty. His father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, ruled the country for seven decades and died at 88.
King Vajiralongkorn has been divorced three times and has seven children, according to the BBC. He is currently married to Queen Suthida, his long-term consort who he married earlier this year, in a surprise announcement days before his coronation.
A royal statement at the time said that King Vajiralongkorn "has decided to promote General Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, his royal consort, to become Queen Suthida and she will hold royal title and status as part of the royal family."
The royal website currently displays a "403 Forbidden" error, which means that the server has forbidden access to it – it could be because of too much traffic or that it was taken down.
The New York Times reports that an employee of the database office at the Royal Household Bureau said it was unclear why the site had crashed but that her office was working to fix it.
