Early Life
Somdet Chaofa Prajadhipok Sakdidej was born on 8 November 1893 in Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand) to King Chulalongkorn and Queen Saovabha Bongsri. Prince Prajadhipok was the youngest of nine children born to the couple, but overall he was the King's second-youngest child (of a total of 77), and the 33rd and youngest of Chulalongkorn's sons.
Unlikely to succeed to the throne, Prince Prajadhipok chose to follow a military career. Like many of the King's children, he was sent abroad to study, going to Eton College in 1906, then to the Woolwich Military Academy from which he graduated in 1913. He received a commission in the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army based in Aldershot. In 1910 Chulalongkorn died and was succeeded by Prajadhipok's older brother (also a son of Queen Saovabha), Crown Prince Vajiravudh, who became King Rama VI. Prince Prajadhipok was by then commissioned in both the British Army and the Royal Siamese Army. With the outbreak of the First World War and the declaration of Siamese neutrality, King Vajiravudh ordered his younger brother to resign his British commission and return to Siam immediately, a great embarrassment to the Prince who wanted to serve with his men on the western front. Once home, Prajadhipok became a high-ranking military official in Siam. In 1917 was ordained temporarily as a monk, as is customary for all Siamese men.
In August 1918 Prince Prajadhipok married his childhood friend and cousin Mom Chao Rambhai Barni, a descendant of King Mongkut (Prajadhipok's grandfather) and his Royal Consort Piam. They were married at the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace with the blessing of the King.
After the war in Europe ended, he attended the École Superieure de Guerre in France, returning to Siam to the Siamese military. During this time, he was granted the additional title Krom Luang Sukhothai (Prince of Sukhothai). Prajadhipok lived a generally quiet life with his wife at their residence, Sukhothai Palace, next to the Chao Phraya River. The couple had no children. Prajadhipok soon found himself rising rapidly in succession to the throne, as his brothers all died within a relatively short period. In 1925, King Vajiravudh himself died at the age of 44. Prajadhipok became absolute monarch at only thirty-two. He was crowned King of Siam on 25 February 1926.
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