Thailand's Princess Sirivannavari Speaks for First Time About Sister's Death
Princess Sirivannavari of Thailand has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of her older sister, Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
The remarks came in a rare interview on the sidelines of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, according to an account of the conversation published by Town & Country. The account cited reporting by Royal World Thailand. Sirivannavari, 39, is an equestrian rider as well as a princess.
She said she was in Italy for equestrian competition when she learned her sister had died. She had two events scheduled.
She competed on the very day her sister died. She said the equestrian association advised her to go ahead and ride.
Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, the eldest daughter of King Vajiralongkorn, died June 11, 2026. She was 47. Thailand’s royal household announced the death, and she died at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, as reported by Reuters.
She had been in a coma for more than three years. She collapsed in December 2022 while walking her dogs and suffered a severe cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat that can stop blood flow.
The palace said her condition worsened before her death because of an abdominal infection, inflammation of the colon, low blood pressure and further heart rhythm problems.
Bajrakitiyabha was well known to American audiences for her schooling and legal work. She earned a doctorate in law from Cornell University in New York. She later served as Thailand’s ambassador to Austria and as an ambassador for the rule of law in Southeast Asia for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations agency focused on drugs and crime.
Sirivannavari had marked the loss in June with a Facebook message about loneliness and missing her sister, as reported by The Thaiger. Memorial observances for the 100th day after the death were set for Sept. 18-19.
What makes this stand out is the choice she described. Grief in private. Competition in public. She rode anyway.
