A year after Thailand's king stripped his royal consort of her titles, he's pretending he did no such thing. King Maha Vajiralongkorn has restored the royal consort title and major-general military rank of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, according to a palace statement. It describes Sineenat as "untainted," per Reuters. "Therefore, the stripping of royal titles, official position in serving the crown in military capacity and military ranks and the recall of all declarations has never taken place." Sineenat, 35, hadn't been seen publicly since her fall last October, only a few months after she was named Thailand's first royal consort in almost a century, per the AP. She was then accused of "disloyalty against the monarch" for attempts to raise herself to the position of queen.
That didn't sit well with the actual queen, the king's fourth wife and the former deputy head of his security detail, 42-year-old Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya. The king responded by denouncing Sineenat just as he did with his second and third wives, per the BBC. It's unclear what led to the reconciliation. But Sineenat, a pilot and bodyguard, was reported to have arrived this week in Germany, where the king spends much of his time, per Reuters. The announcement comes amid calls to reform the monarchy, which is above criticism by law. Protesters have challenged the king's decisions to claim Crown wealth as his own property, rather than that of the people, and to take personal command of all military units in Bangkok, per the BBC. (More Thailand stories.)
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