Heartbroken Thais mourn the death of their beloved king - as mystery surrounds playboy prince's request to DELAY his coronation
- Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej died aged 88 in Bangkok hospital after suffering long-term ill health
- His son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn was expected to succeed him but wants to delay becoming king
Heartbroken Thais are mourning the death of their beloved king today as his playboy son provoked mystery by requesting his succession to the throne be delayed.
King Bhumibol, who was the world's longest reigning monarch, died this morning in hospital in Bangkok at the age of 88.
He served for 70 years and commanded great respect from his people, who wept openly on the streets after learning of his passing away.
Two women break down in tears and cry as they pray for King Bhumibol in Bangkok
Heartbroken Thais are mourning the death of their beloved King Bhumibol who died today in hospital in Bangkok at the age of 88. He is pictured with his wife Queen Sirikit
Crown Prince of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn, who has told the Thai PM he wants to delay becoming king following the death of his father
But as attention now turns to Bhumibol's successor, the Thai government say Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has sought a delay by the country's Prime Minister in naming him king.
It came after the news filtered in of his father's death prompting crowds of Thais packed into a courtyard beneath the monarch's hospital window to chant 'Long live the king!'.
One of those leading the chants, Sukit Tanaboonsombat, 46, said: 'I want the king to hear us in case he will come back to life.
One of those leading the chants, Sukit Tanaboonsombat, 46, said: 'I want the king to hear us in case he will come back to life.
'I'm waiting for a miracle to bring the king back to life because he said he wanted to live until 120 years old.'
Many of those outside the hospital clutched pictures of the King and wore pink and yellow shirts
Thai people were openly weeping in the street with one woman cuddling a picture of the king
On hearing the announcement of the King's death, people outside the hospital where he was being treated wept in the street
Thai's were pictured crying and embracing each other after hearing that Bhumibol had died
Well-wishers outside the hospital brought flowers and prayed for the King outside the Siriraj hospital
One woman was so overcome with emotion on hearing of the king's death she collapsed to the ground leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters at Government House: 'I had a royal audience with the Crown Prince (Maha Vajiralongkorn) and he asked for time to prepare before being proclaimed as the new king.
'He said at present, he is the heir apparent. But he would like to take some time to mourn, together with the people of Thailand.'
The delay comes as Vajiralongkorn has constantly been dogged by a reputation that some fear could weaken respect for the Thai monarchy
Vajiralongkorn has been married three times and all three marriages have ended in divorce. He is pictured with his third wife Srirasmi Koet-amphaeng and his son Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti
The delay comes as he has constantly been dogged by a reputation that some fear could weaken respect for the Thai monarchy.
The 64-year-old has had three stormy marriages that have all ended in divorce and there have long been rumours about his finances and hot temper.
His last marriage to Srirasmi Koet-amphaeng, with whom he had a son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, ended in 2014 when she had her royal title stripped.
A grieving woman weeps by candlelight after hearing the figurehead of the nation had succumbed at the age of 88
Devoted subjects were overwhelmed by the sad news, and many held images of the late king as they grieved his passing
It came just months after a video emerged during the Thai military coup in 2014 of the pair throwing a party in honour of their pet dog Foo Foo in the royal palace in Bangkok.
Srirasmi could be seen cavorting in just a tiny G-string as she fed the dog cake before they later sang happy birthday to the animal.
In 2014, footage emerged of Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Srirasmi throwing a party in honour of their pet dog Foo Foo in the royal palace in Bangkok
Princess Srirasmi could be seen cavorting in just a tiny G-string as she fed the dog cake before they later sang happy birthday to the animal in the footage. The couple are now divorced
The video came after a former US ambassador in Bangkok told how Princess Srirasmi confided in him during a state dinner that Foo Foo 'holds the rank of Air Chief Marshal'.
Given the controversy, there had been talk that his older sister might ascend to the Thai throne but today the government all but confirmed Vajiralongkorn as the successor.
He was born in July 1952 and the prince was accorded the kind of attention one would expect from growing up in a palace.
In later life he told an interviewer that even at the age of 12 he was unable to tie his own shoes because courtiers had always done it for him.
Maha Vajiralongkorn was commissioned as an officer in the three branches of Thailand's armed forces and by age 14 was sent to boarding school in England
Efforts to prepare the prince for the throne began in earnest in his early teens. He was commissioned as an officer in the three branches of Thailand's armed forces and by age 14 was sent to boarding school in England.
He continued his studies at a school in Sydney in preparation for Australia's Royal Military College at Duntroon, which he entered in 1972 and graduated from in 1975, shortly after Thailand's neighbours Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam fell to communist forces.
The prince took part in some military action against Thailand's homegrown communist insurgency, but began facing greater challenges on the personal front.
In 1977, reportedly bowing to his mother's wishes, he married a maternal first cousin, Soamsawali Kitiyakara. Their daughter, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, was born in 1978, even as the marriage was falling apart.
Just nine months later, the prince had a son by Yuvadhida Polpraserth, a commoner who was to become his second wife.
This prompted his own mother to note his reputation with women, telling reporters when she travelled to the United States in 1982: 'My son the crown prince is a little bit of a Don Juan. He is a good student, a good boy, but women find him interesting and he finds women even more interesting.'
Palace elders tried to encourage Vajiralongkorn's enthusiasm for military duties with training stints abroad.
A 1980 course of advanced military training in the United States whetted his appetite for flying, a passion carried on to this day, sometimes in the wide-bodied jets of national carrier Thai Airways.
Critics noted his pastime was expensive, citing for example, a $20 million F-16 jet fighter the military presented to him in 1992 for his personal use.
King Bhumibol with his son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. It is expected that he will become the new king
In 1992, he said his reputation was 'upsetting' to him, especially because he felt unable to defend himself because of his royal position.
Speaking to reporters specially invited to his residence, he denied some long-standing rumors: that he owned nightclubs that were profiting by flouting legal closing hours because of links to him, that he was a godfather of various financial scam and that he rigged the national lottery.
Speaking at the time he said: 'The money I spend is acquired honestly. I don't want to touch money earned illegally and through the suffering of others.'
But the rumour mill has continued to feed on his personal life. All five of the children with the woman who became his second wife were born years before he was divorced from his first spouse.
After winning grudging acceptance from the palace to treat his second wife as a royal, they had a spectacular bust-up in 1996 which saw her flee to England with their four sons and one daughter. The prince then flew there to grab his daughter back.
King Bhumibol and his wife Queen Sirkit wave to crowds in Bangkok in 2006. The Queen is also facing ailing health
Because Bhumibol, has been king since 1946, there is great concern about the eventual succession
In 2001, he married another commoner, Srirasmi and then had the royal status of his sons by his second wife withdrawn.
However, Srirasmi also fell out of favour as some of her close relatives were arrested in November 2014 on charges of abusing the crown prince's name in collusion with corrupt police to run a massive extortion scheme.
She was stripped of her royal title and the couple are now divorced.
Earlier this year, he also saw himself at the centre of another controversy when police raided the Bangkok home of a British journalist's wife and questioned her for several hours in connection with his social media posts containing photographs supposedly of Vajiralongkorn.
The pictures showed him wearing low slung jeans and crop top with a huge tattoo on his back. However, Thai police insisted that the images were doctored.
Also widely discussed, albeit privately, in Thailand is Vajiralongkorn's relationship with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed by a military coup in 2006 after being accused of corruption and disrespect for the king.
The Thai king and queen in Guards uniform in the Throne Room of the Grand Palace, Bangkok. There will now be a year-long mourning period in Thailand
Thaksin, a billionaire, was believed to have sought the prince's favor with lavish gifts of cash and property.
However last year, Vajiralongkorn made two high-profile public appearances in Thailand, leading thousands of people in mass bicycling events to mark the birthdays of his mother and his father.
Many saw the events as an attempt to raise his profile in preparation for his eventual installation as king.
Some analysts have likened Vajiralongkorn's situation to that of Britain's Prince Charles, forced to tread water while Queen Elizabeth II reigns for a seventh decade.
A crucial difference is that while Charles and his family can be held to public account, particularly by the press, Thailand's royal family is protected by an Asian tradition of reverence as well as harsh laws that mandate a prison term of three to 15 years for anyone found guilty of the loosely defined crime of insulting the monarchy.
The death of King Bhumibol means that Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is now the world's longest reigning monarch
However, during his father's reign that spanned 70 years, the US-born king became much more than Thailand's constitutional monarch.
Bhumibol was viewed by many in the majority Buddhist nation as a bodhisattva, or holy being who delays entering nirvana to aid the human race
He was the nation's one constant as myriad governments rose and fell and regarded as a gentle leader who used the influence of the throne to unify the nation.
In his heyday, the frail-looking, soft-spoken man in spectacles wielded so much power and respect, he was able to squelch coups and rebellions with a gesture or a few well-chosen words.
Bhumibol was viewed by many in the majority Buddhist nation as a bodhisattva, or holy being who delays entering nirvana to aid the human race.
But while junta leaders, prime ministers and courtiers approached him only on their knees, Bhumibol was remarkably down-to-earth.
He rolled up his sleeves and hiked into impoverished villages and remote rice paddies to assess the state of his country and help resolve everything from water and food shortages to family squabbles.
He played half a dozen musical instruments and jammed with American jazz greats including Benny Goodman.
By the twilight of his rule, Bhumibol had become the world's richest monarch and one of the planet's wealthiest people.
Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at more than $30 billion in 2011.
Although not known for having extravagant tastes, he nevertheless lived the elite life of a modern-day king, racing yachts and appearing at official functions clothed in ornate golden robes.
Over the last decade, the once vigorous Bhumibol had withdrawn from public life due to a series of illnesses. His wife, Queen Sirikit, has also long been ailing and has been even more rarely seen.
A woman wearing pink in honour of Bhumibol breaks down in tears on hearing the news of his death
A Thai woman wipes the tears from her eyes as another clutches a picture of the king close to her chest
Two Thai women are inconsolable after hearing the announcement of the king's passing. He was seen as a father to his people
The king was often ensconced at a Bangkok hospital, emerging from time to time to gaze across the Chao Phraya River from a special pavilion.
He had been notably silent about the political upheaval and protests that have shaken the country in recent years.
During his last days in hospital, Thai people gathered outside bringing flowers and saying prayers.
His death means that Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has now become the world's longest reigning monarch.
However, she is unlikely to acknowledge such a record, particularly as the Thai people are grieving for their revered head of state, who came to the throne in 1946.
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