Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha dies at 47 after nearly four years in a coma

Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, the eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, died Thursday evening at a Bangkok hospital at age 47. The Bureau of the Royal Household made the announcement Friday.

She will lie in state at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, and her funeral will be held with the highest honors according to royal tradition.

The late princess had been hospitalized since December 2022, when she fell unconscious while training dogs for an army exhibition. The palace said she had a mycoplasma infection, a bacterial infection usually associated with pneumonia.

In early May of this year, the palace said her condition had worsened due to multiple infections in several organs, and physicians were unable to stabilize her irregular heart rate. This followed a stomach infection in April, which led to inflammation in her intestines, causing her blood pressure to drop and her heartbeat to become irregular. Her kidney function and breathing had been supported by medical equipment.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a televised speech that "this loss is not merely bad news announced to the people, but an immeasurable grief in the hearts of the entire nation." He called the princess "a pride of Thailand," saying her commitment to building "a society of kindness, justice, and equality" would remain "a moral legacy for the nation, a guiding light for generations of Thais."

Born in 1978 to Vajiralongkorn, then crown prince, and Princess Soamsawali, Bajrakitiyabha studied law at Thammasat University before earning a master's degree and doctorate at Cornell University. Her dissertation focused on the protection of the rights of the accused. She later worked as a public prosecutor and served as Thailand's ambassador to Austria from 2012 to 2014, before concentrating on criminal justice issues.

In 2017, she was appointed a goodwill ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Her advocacy for the rehabilitation of female prisoners led the UN General Assembly to adopt the "Bangkok Rules" on the care and conditions of women in custody.

World leaders have already been offering words of condolence. On X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote that he was "deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati of Thailand," and extended condolences "on behalf of the State of Israel" to the king, royal family, government, and people of Thailand. The Israeli Embassy in Thailand called her passing "an immeasurable loss."

Bajrakitiyabha was widely seen by analysts as a well-suited heir to the throne, though this was never officially addressed. Her death raises questions about succession in Thailand, where public discussion of the monarchy is restricted under strict lese majesty laws. Under Thai tradition, sons take precedence in the line of succession, making Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti the presumptive heir.

Bajrakitiyabha is survived by her parents and siblings.