It appears that Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand who, as Crikey reported yesterday, studied at Duntroon during the 70s, was more of a party boy
than the model student his regal parents would have liked.
His Royal Highness, who may well be the next Thai king, was more
playboy orientated than scholarly and this threw Duntroon educators
into a flat spin when the Prince’s parents made it known they would be
at his graduation ceremony. It’s not every day the King and
Queen of Thailand turn up. But what to do? HRH didn’t get many marks,
indeed he didn’t do too well at all.
Ever pragmatic, especially in those days as far as royalty was
concerned, the Prince was awarded a specially minted medal – the first
and last – for a rather vague “achievement.” Honour was achieved
and royalty pleased.
The Prince returned to Bangkok where his less than royal shenanigans
managed to outrage his highly esteemed and much adored parents, his
family and the majority of the Thai people. He married a cousin and
after a suitable period, divorced her and took up with a woman with
whom he has four children. The Thai media stays out of this, however
insiders say his actions have caused a change in Thai law to
allow a woman to succeed the current king – Vajiralongkorn has no
legitimate male heirs and is himself regarded as “unsuitable” to
mount the throne.
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