Savang Vadhana Explained

Consort:yes
Succession:Queen consort of Siam
Reign:17 February 1881 –
Birth Date:10 September 1862
Birth Place:Bangkok, Siam
Death Place:Bangkok, Thailand
Burial Date:22 April 1956
Burial Place:Wat Ratchabophit, Bangkok
Spouse:Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Issue-Link:
  1. Issue
Issue-Pipe:Detail
House:Chakri dynasty
Father:Mongkut (Rama IV)
Mother:Piam Sucharitakul
Signature:Signature of Queen Savang Vadhana.png

Sri Savarindira (Thai: ศรีสวรินทิรา;, 10 September 1862 – 17 December 1955), also known as Savang Vadhana (Thai: สว่างวัฒนา;). She was a half-sister and one of four principal chief consorts of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). After her first grandson's accession to power in 1935, she became known as Her Majesty Queen Sri Savarindira, The Queen Grandmother of Thailand title in Thailand is Somdetch Phra Phan Vassa Ayika Chao (สมเด็จพระพันวัสสาอัยยิกาเจ้า; ; "the Queen Grandmother").[1] All her children died before her and she lived to see her grandsons Ananda Mahidol and Bhumibol Adulyadej take the throne.

Life

She was the 27th daughter of King Rama IV (King Mongkut or Rama IV) and Princess Consort Piam and thus her husband's half-sister. Her marriage to Chulalongkorn produced the following children:

In addition, the queen also adopted several of her husband's children and raised them as her own children:

All of her biological children died before her death, including two of her sons first in line to the throne, Vajirunhis and Mahidol.

When King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) abdicated in 1935, the son of Queen Savang Vadhana's youngest son, Prince Ananda Mahidol, acceded to the throne as King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII). She received the title of Queen Grandmother, having been renamed Sri Savarindira by King Prajadhipok while she was Queen Aunt.

Queen Sri Savarindira was also the grandmother of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). She lived long enough to see two of her grandsons become king.

The Queen also helped establish a hospital in Si Racha District, Chonburi Province, known today as Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital, operated by the Thai Red Cross Society.

Death

She resided in latter years at Sa Pathum Palace, currently located behind Siam Paragon center in downtown Bangkok, where a museum dedicated to her is being constructed at the Tamnak Yai Mansion (Grand mansion) inside Sa Pathum Palace. She died on 17 December 1955, at the age of 93. Her ashes were interred in the Royal Cemetery at Wat Ratchabophit, Bangkok. A residence of the queen can be seen at the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace. Her state funeral was the first to be covered briefly on television by the young Television of Thailand channel.

Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation was founded on 27 October 2005 under the aegis of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, her great-granddaughter.

Title, styles, honours and awards

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Royal Name:HM Queen Sri Savarindira, the Queen Grandmother of Thailand
Dipstyle:Her Majesty
Offstyle:Your Majesty

Styles

Honours

Issue

Name Birth Death Marriage Children
Date Spouse
27 June 1878 4 January 1895 colspan="3"
Prince Isariyalongkorn 4 September 1879 25 September 1879 colspan="3"
21 April 1881 15 August 1881 colspan="3"
Sommatiwongse Varodaya, Prince of Nakhonsridharmaraj 9 June 1882 17 June 1899 colspan="3"
16 April 1884 15 February 1938 colspan="3"
19 July 1888 24 May 1898 colspan="3"
Miscarriage 30 March 1889 colspan="3"
Miscarriage 1890 colspan="3"
Mahidol Adulyadej, Prince of Songkla
(later Prince Father)
1 January 1892 24 September 1929 10 October 1920 Galyani Vadhana, Princess of Naradhiwas
Ananda Mahidol
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Princess (Unnamed) 9 November 1893 12 November 1893

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Finestone, Jeffrey. The Royal Family of Thailand: The Descendants of King Chulalongkorn. Bangkok : Phitsanulok Publishing, 1989, p. 64