Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, the eldest daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, has passed away aged 47, more than three years after she was hospitalized with a mycoplasma infection typically associated with pneumonia.
The palace released a statement confirming her death, which explained that "the medical team provided the closest and most intensive care possible, but her condition continued to decline progressively," before adding that she passed away in Chulalongkorn Hospital.
The statement also explained that the princess had developed an intra-abdominal infection, colitis, low blood pressure, arrhythmias, and blood clotting disorders as a result of her lengthy illness.
© NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe king has ordered that his daughter receive royal funeral rites with the highest honors as per royal tradition, and for her remains to be placed at Piman Rattaya Throne Hall in the Grand Palace.
The palace largely kept quiet about Princess Bajrakitiyabha's illness, which began when she collapsed while training her dogs in December 2022. She has remained in a coma since, with her health steadily deteriorating over the years.
In August 2025, the royal family revealed that she had developed a serious blood infection and that her kidneys and lungs were only functioning "with support from medical devices and medication".
© dpa/picture alliance via Getty IHer condition worsened in May 2026, with the palace sharing that she had contracted infections in several organs and suffered from an irregular heart beat. Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the eldest daughter of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his former wife, Princess Soamsawali, dedicated her life to justice reform and women's rights.
She began her studies at Thammasat University before gaining her master's degree in law at Cornell University. She then earned a doctorate at the prestigious university before going on to work at the Thai Mission to the UN in NYC.
© AFP via Getty ImagesUpon returning to Thailand, the princess worked as a public prosecutor and became Thailand's ambassador to Austria, then a goodwill ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Throughout her life, Princess Bajrakitiyabha worked tirelessly towards justice reform and aimed to help incarcerated women be rehabilitated before their release.
© AFP via Getty Images"Society cannot grow if there is instability and injustice," she told the Associated Press in 2013. "Without the rule of law, without a good justice system, it's always chaos. I think the rule of law is a very important pillar to development, to economic growth, and of course to human rights."
© SOPA Images/LightRocket via GettThe princess was given the rank of general by her father in 2021 and became the chief of staff in the Royal Security Command. King Vajiralongkorn has not named an heir to the throne, and the princess was billed as a possible successor before she fell ill in 2022.
Four of the king's five sons were disowned in 1996 and have lived outside of Thailand ever since, and his fifth son, Dipangkorn, is the presumed heir, although it was widely thought that Bajrakitiyabha would serve as regent to help her younger brother.
