Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been formally crowned as a divine monarch, donning the 7.3kg Great Crown of Victory as part of coronation ceremonies mixing Buddhist and Hindu Brahmin traditions.
King Vajiralongkorn, 66, became constitutional monarch after the death of his revered father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016.
The coronation follows a period of mourning.
Earlier, the king, wearing a simple white robe, went through the first of three major consecration rites, being showered with water from several holy rivers and ponds, as well as old royal water vessels.
The rite, known as the royal purification ceremony, took place on Saturday amid music from drums, conch shells and other instruments. Outside the palace, artillery was fired in a salute to the monarch.
After the royal purification ceremony, he ascended the throne and sat beneath the nine-tiered umbrella, used only by the king, to receive the royal golden plaque, royal regalia, weapons of sovereignty and crown.
Vajiralongkorn inherits a nation in political turmoil, with the powerful army entrenched in government for five years after staging a coup in 2014. An election held in March has been widely seen as rigged through convoluted election laws to favour the military and its preferred candidate, Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the coup and has headed the government.
He surprised the country’s ruling junta when, “to ensure his royal powers,” he requested changes to a new constitution that had already been approved in a referendum, to which they acquiesced.
The powers he acquired centralise royal authority in his hands and make explicit his right to intervene in government affairs.
The king will later receive members of the royal family, the Privy Council and Cabinet and other senior officials. He will then visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to announce he is the royal defender of Buddhism, and close the day with a symbolic palace housewarming.
On Sunday, there will be a 7km royal procession, followed by the king’s Grand Palace balcony public greeting on Monday.