Sunanda Kumariratana (, , ; 10 November 1860 – 31 May 1880) was a

queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. She was one of the four royal wives of King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

Background

She was a daughter and fiftieth child of

ese King

Mongkut Mongkut (18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868. The reign of Mongkut was marked by significant modernization ini ...

(Rama IV) and Princess Consort Piam. She was the half-sister and first wife of King

(Rama V) of Siam (now

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

). The king's other two wives were her younger sisters, Their Majesty Queen

Savang Vadhana Sri Savarindira (; , 10 September 1862 – 17 December 1955), also known as Savang Vadhana (; ). She was a half-sister and queen of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). After her first grandson's accession to power in 1935, she became known as Her Ma ...

and Queen

Saovabha Phongsri Saovabha Phongsri (; RTGS: Saowapha PhongsiPronunciation) was an agnatic half-sister, royal wife and queen consort of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Thailand, and mother of both King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) and King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). As in ...

. The queen and her daughter Kannabhorn Bejaratana drowned when the steam boat ''Sorawan'' collided with their royal boat towed by the steam yacht ''Pan Marut'' on the way to the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace (Summer Palace). There is an often repeated myth that the many witnesses to the accident did not dare to touch the queen, a

capital offense Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

—not even to save her life. However, this was not the case; the King's diary records that boatmen dived into the water, pulled the queen and her daughter from the entangling curtains, and carried them to another boat, where attendants worked in vain to resuscitate them. No one else died in the accident.

Funeral

The grief-stricken Chulalongkorn demanded a resplendent funeral for them. Preparations for the funeral took 10 months and the funeral ceremony did not begin until 10 March 1881. The bodies of the queen and princess were dried with injections of quicksilver and stored in golden urns while precious woods were collected for the construction of a funeral pyre; royal facilities where the king and entourage resided during the cremation ceremonies were also constructed in a location referred to as ''Pra Mane''. The funeral pyre was reported to be tall and was built over an altar where the urns were placed for cremation. The proceedings and celebrations were opulent, attended by many, and documented in great detail. Chulalongkorn lit the funeral pyre around 6:00p.m. on 15 March to the sound of horns, and the pyre burned throughout the night. Celebrations ended on 20 March with a procession to the

Grand Palace The Grand Palace (, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. . ) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the officia ...

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunanda Kumariratana Queens consort of Thailand Consorts of Chulalongkorn 19th-century Thai women 19th-century Chakri dynasty Deaths by drowning Accidental deaths in Thailand 1860 births 1880 deaths Thai female Phra Ong Chao Thai princesses consort Children of Mongkut Daughters of kings