Queen Saowabha, who now became a Grandmother for the first time, was overjoyed, a joy which may have been clouded by Chulalongkorn’s disregard of the event, though he might well have been gratified since the Crown Prince, much to his and Saowabha’s distress, remained an obstinate bachelor. The Queen, from the first, took a personal interest in all that concerned the little boy, even providing the cot and layette, which she remarked was better and finer than her own children had had, and Chom, one of her ladies-in-waiting, was frequently at Paruskavan with many royal recommendations on every aspect of infant welfare, together with numerous gifts for both the child and his mother.
This Chom, a lifelong companion of Queen Saowabha’s since they themselves had been children, had become over the years confidante, Keeper of Keys and Jewels, and nurse to all the Queen’s children including Chakrabongse. She must have been a most lovable creature as, although a nurse and two maids had already been engaged, Katya took such an immense liking to her that she begged Saowabha to allow her to be the supervisory nurse. She could obviously not have asked a greater favour, but it was granted instantly, and Chom became a beloved, never forgotten, figure both in the life of Katya and her son.
As a third floor had recently been added to Paruskavan to accommodate the baby, there was ample room in his nurseries for him and a bevy of adoring attendants. He grew into a most endearing dark-eyed child, his looks sometimes delightfully set-off by crisp white rompers trimmed with broderie-Anglaise, and a large muslin, somewhat nautical cap framing his black hair – a completely European outfit, probably ordered from London or Paris.
His grandmother at first gave him the name of Pongchak, being the inversion of Chakrapong (the actual pronunciation of Chakrabongse). She also gave him the nickname of Nou meaning ‘mouse’. Nicknames have always been common in Siam and particularly necessary in the case of princes with their lengthy titles. Thus Crown Prince Vajiravudh had the nickname of ‘Toe’, meaning large, while Chakrabongse was called ‘Lek’ (small) as Katya had earlier explained to her brother. Nou was taken to see his grandmother nearly every day, not always at the Grand Palace or Dusit Palace, but at a modest farmhouse near a rice field called Phya Thai. This was where, at weekends, the King and Queen, accompanied by a relatively small number of courtiers, went to relax and sometimes work in the rice fields with the peasants, enjoying welcome relief from the formality and ceremony of their ordinary life. Saowabha in fact grew to love Phya Thai so much, that later on Chulalongkorn built yet another palace for her not far from their farmhouse, where he drove to see her daily in his yellow electric car.
For at least 18 months, Queen Saowabha’s delight in her grandchild was not shared by her husband, and Katya’s feelings of rejection were clearly expressed in a letter written to her brother in the autumn of 1909:
‘I don’t know what to write about us. Lek is out of the house all day because to day is the anniversary of King Mongkut’s death and they began the ceremonies at 10 am and will finish in the evening with various breaks in between. But Lek will not return before evening, as the Survey Department, which dispenses a lot of money but doesn’t do anything at all, has been placed under the command of the General Staff, giving Lek a greatly increased work load. There are about 30 English people in the department but no real discipline. Lek will have to organize it so that everything is in order. You know his character and if he has to do anything he will devote all his efforts and do it to his best ability. Thank God that at the moment he is well and strong, but I hardly see him at all which makes me unhappy. But what can I do, I have to give in as I can’t change anything. I keep hoping just one thing – that when the King sees him working and doing so many useful things he may forgive us.
‘At the moment the King is good with Lek but pretends to have no interest in me or Nou. This is his policy, although I know that with other people he enquires about us a lot. I am sure you can understand that until this problem is solved, I will not be truly happy in Siam. It’s nothing to do with not being able to go into the Palace or anything like that but I feel threatened. It is as if my child and I do not exist. I am sure you understand me. The Queen is the same as before and very kind and generous to us. But I cannot go and visit the Queen with Nou. Lek takes him there himself and it will be like that until the King changes his policy to us. When Nou goes to the palace all day I miss him very much, but how can I stop his grandmother from seeing her sweet little grandson, especially as he is her only one?’
Finally, it was at Phya Thai in 1910, when Nou was two years old, that he first met his grandfather, who described their meeting thus to the Queen: ‘I have seen your grandson today, and he looked so sweet and resembled his father. As soon as I saw him I loved him, for after all he is my own flesh and blood and’, he added proudly and thankfully, ‘there are no European looks about him at all!’
Phya Thai, where Chula often went to visit his grandmother.
Prince Chula.
Chakrabongse and Chula aged six months.
Prince Pong-Chak before his name was changed to Chula.
Document in Queen Saowabha’s handwriting naming Chula ‘Pong-Chak’. This was later changed to Chula Chakrabongse.
When the king enquired what he would most like as a present, Nou asked boldly for a horse, a car and a sword. Next day, as though a wand had been waved, there arrived a tiny pony and a red pedal-car, but the request for a sword had been cautiously modified into a replica of an officer’s sword and scabbard in the form of a paper-knife.
Unhappily this promising relationship between grandson and grandfather, which Chakrabongse and Katya fervently hoped would also lead to her recognition, was ended by the sudden death of Chulalongkorn, at the age of only fifty-eight, as a result of his chronic kidney complaint, on 23rd October 1910 at Dusit Palace.
As he had reigned so long – forty-two years – no-one could be found who remembered accurately the ceremonial of a royal funeral. In any case nothing could have been prepared, as to have mentioned a monarch’s demise beforehand was tantamount to high treason. The whole day of his death was therefore spent in consulting archives and documents, and it was seven in the evening before the ceremonial bathing of the body was concluded by the Queen combing the King’s hair with a wooden comb, which was then broken so that it might never be used again.
Chakrabongse and Chula.
King Chulalongkorn’s funeral urn.
The body, clad in a red panung and cream-coloured scarf, was first clothed in a silken vest, followed by a gold-embroidered coat, crossed on the breast by a diamond-encrusted baldric. The legs were brought into a sitting position, knees beneath the chin and compactly bound. A cap and gloves of silk and golden shoes were put on, and a gold ring placed in the mouth. The face was hidden by a golden mask, and a high golden crown adorned the head. Thus splendidly arrayed, the body was lifted into a great gold urn with an inner casing of silver, never used except for those of the highest rank. The urn, borne on a gilded palanquin was then ready for its journey to the Grand Palace, where it would lie in state.