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The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XII, 2020

Other interesting incidents were reported by the German and Italian
envoys, who were informed of King Prajatibok's trip before the official message
by the Siamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Siamese delegation in London
on 29 April 1933. Within the report by the German envoy, Dr. Nord, the following
excerpt of a discussion between Dr. Nord and the Italian envoy is significant:

“...my Italian colleague added to this narrative the strictly
confidential information, ...that the British government told the
government here (Siamese government) that the British King did not
wish to receive the King of Siam ... As far as the reasons for this negative

attitude from the British are concerned, my Italian colleague was not be
able to find any reliable reason...”. It can be assumed that this report
was due to the bad situation in the region. The secret information was
for the German envoy's eyes only, and was not supposed to be sent
to Berlin.
19
Visiting England, King Prajatibok and Queen Rambai Barni were shown
reverence, but were welcomed strictly according to the “incognito” protocol by

the Duke of York at London's Victoria Station. The British government was not
authorized to do anything more to receive the King of Siam, as a “semi-official”
visit is not a part of British protocol. On the first day after their arrival, Their
20
Majesties were invited to lunch at Winsor Palace by King George V, together
with Queen Mary, Duke of York and his wife. The second meeting was the
British King's invitation to participate in the “Trooping of the Colour” on
4 June 1934, after the dental and eye operations, on the occasion of His Majesty's
birthday. On 21 June 1934, their Majesties the King and Queen of Siam were again
invited to lunch with British royals, with King Prajatibok meeting the Duke of

19 Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes, Berlin. R 86066. Report from 27 April 1933 by the
German Envoy in Bangkok to the Foreign Ministry Berlin. Underlines are the same as in the
original.
In German: “…mein italienischer Kollege fügte dieser Erzählung die streng vertrauliche
Mitteilung hinzu, …dass die englische Regierung der hiesigen Regierung auf ihre Anfrage zu
verstehen gegeben habe, der englische König hege nicht den Wunsch, den König von Siam zu
empfangen… Über die Gründe dieser ablehnenden Haltung Englands hat mein italienischer
Kollege Sicheres nicht in Erfahrung bringen können, …”
20 Archive of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok, 7.3.3/15, letter from 7 June 1933 and
letter from 27 January 1934

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Pornsan Watanangura

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