page_title: Vajiralongkorn
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: Vajiralongkorn / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: ไทย: สมเด็จพระบรมโอรสาธิราชในช่วงปี ค.ศ. 1966
context_page_description: Vajiralongkorn, reigning title Phrabat Somdet Phra Vajira Klao Chao Yu Hua, is the King of Thailand since 2016. He is the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. In 1972, at the age of 20, he was made crown prince by his father. After his father's death on 13 October 2016, he was expected to ascend to the throne of Thailand but asked for time to mourn before taking the throne.
  He accepted the throne on the night of 1 December 2016. His father was cremated on 26 October 2017. His coronation took place from 4–6 May 2019. The Thai government retroactively declared his reign to have begun on 13 October 2016, upon his father's death. As the tenth monarch of the Chakri dynasty, he is also styled as Rama X. Aged 64 at that time, Vajiralongkorn became the oldest Thai monarch to ascend to the throne.
  As of 2020, his net worth is estimated to be around US$30 billion, making him the wealthiest ruler in the world. He lives in Germany, in the state of Bavaria. People in Thailand are not allowed to criticize his rule, as the monarchy is protected by one of the strictest Lèse-majesté laws in the world.
context_section_description: Maha Wachiralongkon was born on 28 July 1952 at 17:45 in the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall of the Dusit Palace in Bangkok. When the crown prince was one year old, Somdet Phra Sangkharat Chao Kromma Luang Vajirananavongs, the 13th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand of the Rattanakosin Era, gave the child his first name at birth, "Vajiralongkorn Borommachakkrayadisonsantatiwong Thewetthamrongsuboriban Aphikhunuprakanmahittaladunladet Phumiphonnaretwarangkun Kittisirisombunsawangkhawat Borommakhattiyaratchakuman" (Thai: วชิราลงกรณ บรมจักรยาดิศรสันตติวงศ เทเวศรธำรงสุบริบาล อภิคุณูประการมหิตลาดุลเดช ภูมิพลนเรศวรางกูร กิตติสิริสมบูรณ์สวางควัฒน์ บรมขัตติยราชกุมาร). He is the only son, the second of the four children of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit.
  Vajiralongkorn began his education in 1956, when he entered kindergarten at the Chitralada School in Dusit Palace. After completing Mathayom 1 (grade seven), he was sent to be educated at independent schools in the United Kingdom, first at a prep school, King's Mead, Seaford, Sussex, and then at Millfield School, in Somerset, where he completed his secondary education in July 1970. In August 1970, he attended a five-week military training course at The King's School, in Sydney, Australia.
  In 1972, the prince enrolled at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra, Australia. His education at Duntroon was divided into two parts, military training by the Australian Army and a bachelor's degree course under the auspices of the University of New South Wales. He graduated in 1976 as a newly corporal with a liberal arts degree.
  In 1982, he completed a second bachelor's degree, this time in law, with second-class honours at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University.
caption: The Royal Family, 1966. Vajiralongkorn stands at far right.
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