The king of Thailand has stripped his royal consort of her titles less than three months after they were bestowed upon her.
An announcement in the Royal Thai Government Gazette said 34-year-old Sineenat Bilaskalayani was stripped of all her titles and military ranks for being “ambitious” and trying to “elevate herself to the same state as the queen.”
It said her actions “are considered dishonorable, lacking gratitude, unappreciative of royal kindness, and driving a rift among the royal servants, making misunderstanding among the people, and undermining the nation and the monarchy.”
King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who ascended to the throne in 2016, named Sineenat his royal consort just two months after he married his fourth wife, Queen Suthida.
This was the first time a Thai monarch has taken a consort in nearly a century.
Both Sineenat and Suthida had served as senior officers in palace security units. Suthida was previously a flight attendant with Thai Airways, while Sineenat was an army nurse.
Sineenat’s fate in the royal court is similar to that of the king’s second and third wives.
The king’s second wife fled to the U.S. after she was denounced by him. The kings has also disowned their four sons.
His third wife was also stripped of her titles and banished from the court. Their teenage son lives with his father.
The king’s first marriage also ended in divorce but that wife was also his cousin and part of the royal family so she didn’t share the fate of the others.