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When King Mongkut left the priesthood to
take up the duties of kingship, he had to resume a life which
he had once forsaken. It was a contrast in extremes, for the
King went straight from his The Inner Palace where the King took up
residence was a veritable city of women, wherein no other males
above the age of eleven were allowed, except on very special
occasions when they were given permission to enter, accompanied
by a number of muscular amazons who guarded the palace. In this
palace lived the princesses of the blood, the ladies of the harem,
and all their slaves and attendants. The administration of this
city was in the hands of highranking lady officials of lower
ranks, women who performed the duties of clerks and treasurers
together with members of the guard of the amazons and women menials.
The Siamese harem was different from other oriental harems in
one respect: no eunuch had ever been known to be in employment.
New members were given to the King or to the princesses by willing
parents or relatives; others came of their own accord with the
hope for royal favour or employment inside the palace. Young
girls from noble and rich families were usually sent to the palace
for a duration of time before they became marriageable, for the
palace was the only place where they could be properly educated
and obtain all the accomplishments and polish that were required
of Siamese ladies of high birth. All these Although the King of Siam held the Supreme Power in the Kingdom in which his commands were sacred and must be obeyed, his daily life inside the palace had to follow a routine prescribed by the palatine laws which had been handed down from the remote past. The daily routine of the King's life according to the law was as follows:
This then was roughly the daily routine
of private life which King Mongkut had to follow. It was known,
however, that he preferred t In common with the majority of his subjects,
the King was inordinately fond of his children. At the birth
of each royal child, he felt again and again the joy of a proud
father. Instead of being exhausted by the frequent repetition
of the blessed event, his exultation seemed to increase with
the birth of each child down to the 82nd one. He watched over
the welfare and development of his chi Apart from his own family, consisting of a very large number of wives and children, the King had to be at the head of a very large Royal Family consisting of the wives, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of former kings. Although many of these were men of ability and were able to help him in the performance of his duties, there are others who proved to be constant sources of worries and annoyance. The Royal Family, which began modestly enough in the First Reign, had so multiplied itself as to have become rather an unruly privileged class in King Mongkut's time. The very idea of a privileged class, not to say anything of the abuse of such privileges, was against Mongkut's earlier training in the priesthood. He insisted that all were equal in the eyes of the law, no matter whether they were princes or nobles. Should any member of the Royal Family desire to break the law of the land, he must be ready to bear the consequences. It was most characteristic of the King that he was willing to undergo the same thing that he required of others. He made it quite clear that even himself was not above the law. In one of his public proclamations he made his own position known thus:- "If one of the officials or one of the people should complain against the King of Siam, let such complaints be accepted. Let orders under the seal of the Rajawongse Pavara Sthan be issued to all ministers and the lady officials inside the Palace. Let them take evidence on the case and let judgment be given. If such evidence is not sufficient or not clear, let a letter be addressed to us as King and we will reply according to truth". - Information from "A King of Siam Speaks" by M.R. Seni Pramoj and M.R. Kukrit Pramoj  |
monastic
cell to the Inner Palace or the Harem. The once celibate priest
was now required to have as many wives and children as possible,
for such practice was then regarded as being necessary for the
honour and dignity of the Sovereign. During 17 years on the throne,
Mongkut had 82 children. This, after 26 years spent in the monastery,
was no mean feat.
women were called "Nang
Nai" or ladies of the Inner Palace, but only the royal wives
and concubines and princesses of the blood were regarded as "Nang
Harm" or the forbidden ladies. These latter were not allowed
to marry except by the King's special permission, which was rarely
granted. They were not allowed to be looked upon by any other
male with the exception of the King himself. It is curious to
note that nowhere else in the kingdom was the purdah practised
but only inside the Royal Court and at the court of the Second
King or the Heir to the Throne. King Mongkut was the first Siamese
monarch to break this age-old custom by issuing a proclamation
permitting those ladies to resign, though it must be said that
the characters he gave to those who did actually resign were
not as brilliant as they might have been.
he
company of his ministers to that of astrologers and pundits at
night, when he would discuss official business with them. Instead
of music and minstrelsy at midnight the King usually called for
his secretary, pen and paper, whereby he would continue with
his writing far into the next morning. With such a life and responsibilities,
with so vast a conglomeration of women surrounding him, not counting
the large number of his own children, and in spite of the complete
lack of privacy in all things, Mongkut succeeded, where men of
lower calibre would have failed, in establishing some sort of
intimate family feelings between himself and his numerous wives
and children. Although his wives were never allowed to forget
that he was their Supreme Lord of Life, they very often caught
glimpses of his true love and tenderness. The letters he wrote
to some of his wives were full of as much affection and kindness
as any ordinary man could feel towards those dear and near to
him. Stories of his cruelty and harshness towards his wives have
been written and published outside Siam, but there are no existing
records in this country to substantiate such stories.
ldren with great
concern and with a deep sense of responsibility. It was his wish
that they should be brought up to serve the State, and he spared
neither expense nor trouble towards their education for this
purpose. His wish was fulfilled, though he never lived to see
it, for all of them became faithful servants of the State and
have done a great deal towards the construction and development
of modern Siam.
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