If Disney has taught us anything, it’s that life can be more difficult for a princess than one might think. For the princess of Thailand, this means losing hope of running for political office.
Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, sister to the King Maha Vajiralongkorn, will not be allowed to run for the position of prime minister. The country’s election commission omitted her from the ballot, saying that the royal family were meant to be removed from politics. The king himself spoke out against his sister, saying that her candidacy was “inappropriate.”
It’s common for royal families to remain impartial in the politics in constitutional democracies. The United Kingdom’s royal family lives by the same principle. The Queen accepts whichever candidate’s party wins the prime minister position and never comments on political issues.
It would seem that the princess had hoped she had found a loophole. She gave up her royal titles when she married an American all the way back in the 1970s, but returned to Thailand after her divorce in the 2000s. As a royal by blood only, she may have felt the norms didn’t apply to her.
Sometimes a princess just can’t catch a break.
