Katya & The Prince of Siam

‘The matter that has made us extremely worried is as follows. It was discovered that there was a large group of people who were planning secretly to carry out a coup d’état and to kill the King. In the group were some officers, although not many. But Lek was fortunate in finding out the names of all the officers and now they have all been arrested and are in custody pending trial. However the civilians have not yet been arrested as there is insufficient evidence. There were three different approaches to changing the government as there were many groups. The first group was that which would carry out the coup d’état. They also intended to kill Lek as they said that if he was still alive they would not be able to make the country into a republic. The second group wanted to make him King but with a constitutional government. The third group wanted to make Prince Boripatra King. Now the danger is definitely over because all the leaders have been arrested, but dissatisfaction with the King has not declined and confusion and chaos can still arise at any time. In this situation we are just waiting to see what new event might occur or what news comes in from Lek’s secret sources, of which he has a great deal. To sum up, our life is not calm but it is not dangerous for us in any way. At the moment the King consults Lek all the time and Lek tells him everything quite straight including those things which he thinks that the King has done wrong. In many things the King has agreed with him and there will have to be many changes in our country. I beg that God will help everything to go smoothly. The reason I am telling you all this is that everyone is sending news about it and you will no doubt have read about it in the newspapers.

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Usually in the evening I am alone because for the last two weeks the Queen has requested that Nou should spend the night with her. She is unwell and misses him. Her requests are in fact commands and so a car comes to pick him up every day at 5 o’clock and then returns him at 9 o’clock the following morning. I feel lonely but as I have had disagreements with the Queen before about Nou, this time I haven’t argued and given in with good grace.’

 

Katya also mentions the problems suffered by Thongrod, Chakrabongse’s former ADC, who as a result of studying in Russia had also fallen in love and marred a Russian girl, Ludmilla. Katya’s reflections on their life indicate the pressures that she herself still suffered: