Katya & The Prince of Siam

As for her relationship with her son, while she accepted she must play a minor part in his life while he pursued a course laid out for him by the King, this was not accomplished without resentment. In later years, Chula would accuse her of ‘desertion’ and remain unconvinced by her explanation of the complicated web of circumstances that had led to her departure. Thus the remembered pain of the boy of eleven, as he wandered in the gardens of Paruskavan after she left, was never really healed and remained an open wound in their relationship.

By the beginning of December, Katya was longing to be gone. Bangkok for her was only filled with sad recollection and regret. Therefore on the 10th, all farewells said and last visits paid, she went on her way, taking with her the dog, L’Or, the gift of Chakrabongse in happier days in Paris. This time the severance from Siam, where she had once been so happy and, despite prejudice, had been held in affection by so many, was final. Gradually the memory of ‘Mom Katerin’ faded, though the consternation and affront her marriage to Prince Chakrabongse had caused in the Royal Family, was longer remembered as the first intrusion of a ‘farang’ and commoner into their near sacred circles.

XIII

Chula is Left Alone

 

 

King Rama VI and Princess Laksami Lawan.

 

The unexpected demise of Chakrabongse at such an early age, combined with the fact that he was, childless, began to cause the King deep concern on account of the succession; a concern which, in October 1920, led him to invite a number of his cousins to attend his court at Phya Thai. As these cousins were not princes but princesses, the royal gesture, not surprisingly, proved unpopular among his coterie of predominantly male favourites and courtiers. Undeterred, Vajiravudh encouraged the presence of these ladies and, as a particular mark of his favour, included roles for them in several plays he wrote and had performed at his palace.

One of these princesses, Vallabha Devi was, according to Chula, not only charming and dignified but, as a daughter of Prince Naradhip and, like Vajiravudh himself, a grandchild of King Mongkut, eminently eligible. At the age of twenty-eight, she was also not too young for a bridegroom of thirty-nine.

The announcement of her engagement to the King on 9th November was therefore welcomed by all except, quoting Chula again, ‘by some well-known personages at court who tended to feel left out in the cold’. Many in the Royal Family must have wished that Queen Saowabha, Vajiravudh’s Mother, who had so deplored her son’s unmarried state, might have lived to share their rejoicing. A round of festivities was soon in full swing in honour of the engagement, the King’s betrothed was installed in the comparatively newly-built Chitraladda Palace, and all concerned began to plan and look forward to the splendour and ceremony of a royal wedding.

As Vajiravudh had announced that their marriage would be monogamous, Vallabha Devi must have anticipated a position of undisputed importance in her married life, and had already gathered around her a little court of her own, which included several of her pretty younger sisters, including one who was particularly charming, Princess Laksami, her junior by seven years. Meanwhile, the King visited his affianced every day at teatime and telephoned her every evening which, while formally correct, does not suggest an ardent courtship.

A great distraction at Phya Thai, particularly for his nephew, the bereaved twelve-year-old Chula, was a miniature city laid out by his Uncle in the palace grounds, complete with exact copies of the Grand Palace, temples, theatres, hotels and private houses, some with entrancing gardens shaded by tiny Japanese dwarf trees. A water tank concealed within a ‘mountain’, fed a river flowing to a lake, and when lit up at night, the whole scene was one of magical enchantment. Courtiers were encouraged to own property and elect a mayor and councillors, the King announcing – perhaps to justify the extravagance of such a costly toy that he wished them to comprehend municipal administration which he intended to introduce into Bangkok.

However, Chula was not to enjoy this for very long as, in February 1921, accompanied by his youngest uncle, Prince Prajadhipok, he left for England where he would be privately tutored prior to entering Harrow in 1923. For Prajadhipok, the trip was primarily to seek medical advice, but subsequently his health being much restored, he entered the French Staff College at St. Cloud, and did not return to Siam until 1924 when he was promoted Major-General.