Khaberni - Thailand begins today, Sunday, a full year of official mourning over the death of Queen Sirikit, mother of the current king, whose body will rest in a small church for a year.
Loyalists of the royal family gathered awaiting the procession carrying the body of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s former wife, who died on Friday at the age of 93, from the hospital she passed away in to the royal palace in Bangkok.
The royal family is highly respected in Thailand, where the king is considered the father of the nation and a symbol of the Buddhist ideal, and gilded pictures of Queen Sirikit have been hung in public places and homes throughout the country.
The start of the mourning year coincides with extensive media coverage, praising the former queen who was nicknamed "Asia's Jackie Kennedy" in her youth.
Throughout the capital Bangkok, digital screens display condolence messages in black, and residents have been asked to wear dark clothes and limit public celebrations.
The former queen’s body will be transferred on Sunday afternoon from Chulalongkorn Hospital to the royal palace, where it will be preserved in a dignified small church for a year, until the cremation ceremony.
During her 66-year marriage to King Adulyadej, who ruled the country for 70 years, she was considered a tender mother to the nation and together with her husband formed a stylish and influential couple that bolstered the royal family’s stature in Thai society.
The Queen Mother suffered from "several illnesses" since her hospitalization in 2019, including a blood infection earlier in the month.
