page_title: Norodom Ranariddh
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Norodom Ranariddh / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: English: Norodom Ranariddh accompanying Norodom Sihanouk during his days as commander in chief of Armee Nationale Sihanoukiste
context_page_description: Norodom Ranariddh is a Cambodian politician and law academic. He is the second son of Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half-brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni. Ranariddh is the president of FUNCINPEC, a Cambodian royalist party. He was also the First Prime Minister of Cambodia following the restoration of the monarchy, serving between 1993 and 1997, and subsequently as the President of the National Assembly between 1998 and 2006.
  Ranariddh was a graduate of the University of Provence and started his career as a law researcher and lecturer in France. In 1983, he joined FUNCINPEC and in 1986 became the chief of staff and commander-in-chief of Armée nationale sihanoukiste. Ranariddh became Secretary-General of FUNCINPEC in 1989, and its president in 1992. When FUNCINPEC won the 1993 Cambodian general election, it formed a coalition government with the Cambodian People's Party, which was jointly headed by two concurrently serving prime ministers. Ranariddh became the First Prime Minister of Cambodia while Hun Sen, who was from the CPP, became the Second Prime Minister.
context_section_description: Ranariddh is known for his physical resemblance to his father Sihanouk, inheriting his facial features, high-pitched voice and mannerisms. Contemporaries including Harish Mehta, Lee Kuan Yew and Benny Widyono have so stated after meeting with him. An opinion poll conducted in July 1997 by the Cambodian Information Centre also supports similar observations of Ranariddh's physical resemblance to Sihanouk. Journalists such as those from the Phnom Penh Post have observed that Ranariddh had used his resemblance to canvass support for FUNCINPEC during the 1993 and 1998 general elections. Ranariddh acknowledged these observations during an interview with Mehta in 2001, saying:
  "People adore the king and I look like him. It is not my achievement they are remembering, but the deeds of my father. On the contrary, if I fail the people would say 'Oh, you are the son, but you are not like your father'. It's rather a burden."
  Ranariddh speaks Khmer, French and English fluently. He also holds dual Cambodian and French citizenship, having obtained the latter in 1979. He enjoys listening to music and watching films, though in a 2001 interview he described himself as lacking the artistic talent which Sihanouk possessed. In 2002, Ranariddh produced and directed a 90-minute film, titled Raja Bori, which was shot at Angkor Wat.
caption: Ranariddh (left) on an inspection tour with Sihanouk (right) while serving in the ANS during the 1980s
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