Katya & The Prince of Siam

In the morning he strolled down the Rue de la Paix all by himself to try on his suit, noting that ‘Katya is still unwell. They seem to think she may have tuberculosis or appendicitis … the doctor will do some tests … what a commotion – and it will mean putting off our departure.’ To add to the disorganisation of their stay, they choose to acquire a dog. Not a small tractable creature, but a large and doubtless lively and energetic German-Shepherd called L’Or. However, when the doctor finally materialised, he announced that his distinguished patient had neither tuberculosis nor appendicitis, so that next day Chakrabongse, greatly relieved, was able to go off on his own to London for a night at the Savoy, to see one of his younger brothers.

Back in Paris, he bought Katya ‘an unusual diamond ring surrounded by square-cut sapphires’ and received another visit from the doctors merely to announce that she was better. Two days later, she was having consultations with two further doctors, a dermatologist about a skin problem on her neck, and a lung-specialist. We are not told what the first of these had to say, but the second pronounced her lungs ‘all right, but she must be careful’.

The visit to Paris ended with Chakrabongse developing a cold and by 27th October, when they took the night-train to Naples, Chakrabongse was still feeling most unwell while Katya had stomach-ache for three days. Fortunately by the time they had reached Penang, she had begun to recover. A faint cloud of disillusion, a sense that their previous pleasure in each other’s company had faded somewhat, hovers over these days in Paris, as though after seven years of marriage, the accord of these two widely different personalities was faltering to the detriment of their relationship. While Katya may genuinely have been ill, her seemingly capricious consultation of three doctors in as many days does suggest a search for the excuse of ill-health to keep her husband at arm’s length, behaviour which after a long absence he would have found most upsetting, and he may well have begun to reflect that a Siamese wife would not have treated him thus. In fact, Katya’s ability to tolerate an Eastern way of life may have been wearing thin and she may perhaps have begun to reassert the extremely dissimilar values in which she had been brought up.

X

War & Revolution

 

Grand manoeuvres, 1916. Queen Saowabha watched from the specially constructed pavilion.

 

Prince Chakrabongse leading a parade.

 

The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his morganatic wife on 28th June 1914 at Sarajevo, followed by the Great Powers’ declaration of war on Germany in August the same year, were events that had repercussions even in far-distant Siam. Although the King sided with the Allies in spirit, he could do little more at first, as public feeling ran strongly against the French for their high-handed annexation of Siamese territory in the past. In comparison, the Germans were relatively popular, being regarded only as friendly traders.

Rama VI however sought to ameliorate this antagonism by writing articles and translations of war news for various newspapers. These, although printed under a number of different pseudonyms, were known to be from the royal

pen, and doubtless in consequence had the advantage of certain publication. Chakrabongse, now a full General and Chief of the General Staff, was also ardently pro-Allies, and followed every move of the belligerents on huge maps set up in his study. He also eagerly gathered all available information about tactics and new weaponry for use in army training.

Katya’s reactions were naturally more personal, in which fears for her native land, her relations and friends, predominated and she suffered much from being so far away from the country she had so immediately volunteered to serve in the Russo-Japanese War. These particular concerns were shared to a large extent by her husband, because of his long association with Russia, and his high rank and standing in the Imperial Army. They both therefore looked forward impatiently to their next visit to Russia, due to take place in the course of 1917, during which Chakrabongse had been invited by the Tsar to accompany him to the Front.

In the meantime, Chakrabongse’s duties continued unabated. As well as work in Bangkok, he also made inspection tours in the provinces and in 1915 he, Katya and Chula made an extended trip up country to Nan, Prae, Chieng Mai and Chieng Rai.