King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand has stripped his royal consort of her titles and military ranks, according to palace officials, who said that Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 34, had breached a code of conduct for courtiers and was disloyal to the monarch.
The announcement came only months after the former army nurse was appointed the royal noble consort by the king on his 67th birthday in July. She was the first woman to receive the noble rank in nearly a century.
Born in the northern province of Nan, Wongvajirapakdi graduated from the Royal Thai army nursing college, trained as a pilot in Thailand and abroad, and served in the king’s royal bodyguard unit, reaching the rank of Maj Gen in May.
Strict lese-majesty laws make it a crime to criticise, defame or insult members of Thailand’s royal family.
In practice, this means open discussion or critical reporting about the royal family is considered illegal.
The military junta, which seized power in 2014, has been criticised for using the law – which can see people jailed for up to 15 years on each count – to stifle opposition.
In 2015, a man was jailed for 30 years over six Facebook posts and the local printer of the New York Times refused to publish an edition with a story on the king.
A cycling and aviation enthusiast who spends much of his time abroad in Germany, Vajiralongkorn was crowned in May in an elaborate three-day ceremony in which Wongvajirapakdi participated.
The ceremony took place days after a surprise announcement that Vajiralongkorn had married Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhya, a former flight attendant and deputy commander of the monarch’s security detail.
Suthida is the fourth wife of the king, who has a teenage son from his third marriage and six other children.
