Katya & The Prince of Siam

‘Write to me dearest. What are you up to? And how are you? Are you happy? Now that you know why I have been quiet for so long you shouldn’t be cross with me any more. I get depressed when I don’t receive a letter for a long time. Next year in the spring I am desperate to come to Russia. It is time for me to have a rest. I have been working for six months now and the weather has been hot all the time. It is not surprising that my heart is not quite normal.’

 

As a result of all the pressures experienced by Katya, in mid-1913 she left for an extended trip to Europe. At first Chakrabongse had hoped to accompany her, but owing to his heavy commitments, she travelled on ahead and they arranged to meet in Naples. From the letters to her brother it would seem that at this time, she had began to suffer from a succession of illnesses which it was thought a trip to Europe would put to rights. Symptoms ranged from coughing blood to feeling faint, but no exact diagnosis has been ever obtained. One of her stays was in Celerina near St Moritz which suggests that her doctors might have suspected tuberculosis.

During her absence, Chakrabongse did his best to see more of his son, and often came back to Paruskavan earlier in the evening so as to have a chat with him. This was much appreciated by the little boy, who later wrote in his memoirs: ‘I admired and worshipped my father like a god, and in the scarlet full dress of the Footguards or the blue of the Horseguards, sitting so splendidly on dear old Ramushka, he was a picture never to be forgotten.’

 

A postcard sent to Prince Chakrabongse

by Katya from near St. Moritz in 1913.

 

 

A postcard sent to Prince Chakrabongse by Katya on board ship showing the steamship ‘Yorck’.

 

At that time, Chakrabongse also took Chula on an expedition in quite a fleet of little boats, including a cook-boat for both Siamese and ‘farang’ food, to Kanchanaburi, on the River Kwai (later scene of the infamous Bridge) where he had to inspect a local barracks. Like a good father, he saw to it that Chula was in bed by nine, although he regretted he would miss the resounding martial fanfare and drumming that welcomed their arrival. After the barracks inspection next morning, he planned to take Chula to see a temple and a cave, but in a fit of childish obstinacy, his son refused to leave the boat until coaxed ashore to buy a basket of orchids for his granny.

In Bangkok, his father took him to a temple, where the priests were most happy to meet him, and where Chakrabongse notes proudly, ‘He behaved very well’.

During one of his nocturnal visits to his mother, Chakrabongse showed her some photographs sent to him by Katya, but was disconsolate when Saowabha – whose slightest word was law – kept for her collection the one he himself liked the best.

On September 25th, he set out for Naples, sad to leave Chula in tears, but certain he would soon be consoled by Chom. His ship the ‘Deli’ was, he says, ‘most comfortable’, but Tapong’s wife, included in the party for the first time, ‘was very boring and made me feel alone when in her company. ’After an uneventful journey, he found Katya awaiting him in Naples, though the pleasure of reunion was marred by his discovery that she has put on weight and ‘looks very fat’. Via Rome and Turin, they reach Paris on 1st October and stayed at the Majestic, where they had been allotted ‘a very grand room because they know who I am and it will be very expensive’, he wrote, adding: ‘tomorrow we’ll change to something smaller.’

Next day he ordered a smoking-suit, took Katya up the Eiffel Tower, and visited some Siamese friends. However by 2nd October, Katya had a bad cold, and left to dine by himself Chakrabongse grumbled, ‘She’s often unwell these days, and it’s most annoying as there are so many things I wanted to do.’ Sadly, it seemed that the much-needed holiday, looked forward to with happy anticipation, was not working out quite as he had hoped.