Princess Anne is in Bangkok the second leg of a royal tour of Asia, following three days in South Korea. On Friday, she had an audience with King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida at the Thai royal palace. The visit marks Princess Anne’s first official visit to Thailand in nearly four decades.
On Thursday, Princess Anne had a busy day, starting with a children’s soccer event organized for a school in an informal settlement in Bangkok, co-sponsored by Save the Children and the Liverpool Football Club Foundation. Traveling with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, she then met with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at the Government House of Thailand, the official offices for cabinet ministers and diplomatic functions.
The Princess Royal with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Princess Anne at the Chumchonmoobanpattana School in Bangkok.
A statement from Thailand’s official state media agency said the discussions covered “Thailand-United Kingdom relations, youth development, education promotion, and women’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).” The Princess Royal was reported to have “emphasized that encouraging more women to pursue STEM careers requires support from both families and teachers.”
Dressed all in black, Princess Anne signed a book of condolences at Government House for Thailand’s late Queen Mother, Queen Sirikit, who died last October, as well as for Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the eldest daughter of King Vajiralongkorn, who died on June 11 at the age of 47 after spending more than two years in a coma. The death of Princess Bha, as she was also known, has left significant questions about succession within the Thai monarchy.
Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence paying their respects to the late Queen Sirikit with the Prime Minister of Thailand.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Anne with Queen Sirikit during a state visit to Thailand in 1972.
The Bangkok part of the trip follows a packed itinerary in South Korea, where Princess Anne and Sir Timothy first visited the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan and met with Korean War veterans. They also had an audience with South Korean President President Lee Jae Myung followed by a visit to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to hear about bilateral cooperation in maritime manufacturing. In one of the more unexpected moments of the week, during a formal reception at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul hosted by the British Embassy, Princess Anne met members of the K-Pop sensation NMIXX. The royal couple are expected to return to the UK following the conclusion of their Thailand engagements.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at .