Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul led members of the cabinet and senior Interior Ministry officials to perform the royal bathing rite before the portrait of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati at the Sahathai Samakhom Pavilion in the Grand Palace on Saturday morning.
Mr Anutin, also interior minister, was accompanied by his wife Thananon Charnvirakul, who chairs the cabinet spouses’ committee, to the ceremony venue at 8am.
The ceremony followed the announcement by the Royal Household Bureau on Friday that HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha had passed away on Thursday night.
Among those attending the rite were Deputy Prime Minister Songsak Thongsri; Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun; Deputy Interior Ministers Polpi Suwanchawee, Jeseth Thaiset and Vorasit Liangprasit; and senior Interior Ministry officials.
The Royal Household Bureau has allowed members of the public to participate in the royal bathing rite before the princess’ portrait on Saturday from 8.30am to noon at Sahathai Samakhom Pavilion.
The royal remains are to be transferred from King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital to the Phiman Rattaya Throne Hall in the Grand Palace at 3.30pm on Saturday.
Mourners dressed in black have been gathering along pavements near the City Pillar Shrine in Bangkok since early morning, reserving spots to pay their respects along the route of the funeral procession.
Thailand entered a period of national mourning on Thursday following the passing of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha at the age of 47.
The princess had been receiving medical care since Dec 15, 2022, after falling into a coma due to a heart-related condition. She had collapsed while exercising her pet dogs in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima a day earlier.
