New Thai King formally ascends to the throne (CNN) — Thailand has crowned its new king in a $31 million three-day celebration that comes almost 69 years to the day since the last coronation. The coronation of 66-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun kicked off on Saturday, more than two years after he ascended the throne following the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was widely beloved and revered. King Vajiralongkorn received a white, nine-tier umbrella as part of an hours-long ceremony, which marked the moment he became a fully-fledged King. Only a consecrated king is allowed to sit on a throne under the umbrella, which represents the King’s connection with heaven. The King wore a 7.3 kilogram (16 lb) crown and was bathed with holy water during parts of the ceremony, which featured incense, yellow flowers and auspicious oils. He also delivered his first royal command as King, saying, “I shall continue, preserve, and build upon the royal legacy and shall reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the people forever.” Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn is carried in a golden palanquin during a coronation procession in Bangkok on Sunday, May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: AP In this image, taken from video, King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida attend attend a ceremony that includes bestowing royal titles and granting ranks at the Grand Palace in Bangkok on May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images People gather for the coronation procession in Bangkok on May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: (AP/Sakchai Lalit) Thai well-wishers hold portraits of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn outside the Grand Palace on May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP People gather to watch a procession with King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha takes part in the coronation procession on May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Thai TV Pool via AP In this image taken from Thai TV, King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida attend a coronation ceremony that includes bestowing of the royal title and ranks to royals at the Grand Palace in Bangkok on Sunday. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP Thai people make offerings to Buddhist monks near the Grand Palace on May 5. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Thai Royal Guards march along a street near the Grand Palace during the coronation of the Thai King on Saturday, May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Handout/Thailand Department of Public Relations The chief brahmin prays before Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun after all royal regalia items have been presented to him during his coronation ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Sakchai Lalit/AP Thai officials stand outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Handout/Thailand Department of Public Relations via AP Royal bearers transport Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn on the royal palanquin during his visit to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok on Saturday, May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Handout/Thailand Department of Public Relations King Vajiralongkorn anoints Queen Suthida at the Grand Palace on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Handout/Thailand Department of Public Relations The Thai monarch offers a donation to a senior Buddhist monk at the Grand Palace on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Rapeephat Sitchailapa/AP Well-wishers line up in front of a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: AP In an image taken from Thai television, King Vajiralongkorn visits the Temple of the Emerald Buddha on May 4 to proclaim himself the royal patron of Buddhism. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images A child holds a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn as she waits with others near the Grand Palace during the coronation on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Thai TV Pool via AP King Vajiralongkorn sits on the throne before an audience of diplomats and dignitaries at the Grand Palace on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters Thai Royal Guards fire a series of cannon salutes during the coronation in Bangkok on May 4. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Thai TV Pool via AP King Maha Vajiralongkorn attends the anointment ceremony. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP People in a beauty salon watch a live broadcast of the coronation ceremony. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Thai TV Pool via AP King Maha Vajiralongkorn takes part in the royal purification ceremony at the Grand Palace. Holy water from symbolic vessels is poured over the King's back and into his hands. Some of the water vessels contain holy water collected from all 76 provinces around the country. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images An official shields herself from the sun during the coronation. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters A tablet displaying King Maha Vajiralongkorn undergoing a royal purification ritual is seen as a Buddhist monk prays during the King's coronation on Saturday. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images King Maha Vajiralongkorn waves to onlookers as he arrives at the Grand Palace for his coronation. Photos: In photos: Thailand crowns its new King PHOTO: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Thai officials take their places on the roads near the Grand Palace before the arrival of the King.<doc-sep>The Royal Sword of Victory represents wisdom in governing the country. According to legend, it was found at the bottom of the Tonle Sap lake in Siem Reap, Cambodia and given as a gift to King Rama I. It's said that when it arrived in Bangkok, seven lightning strikes hit the city simultaneously.<doc-sep>It was a crowning achievement for a former flight attendant for Thai Airways. Three days before his official coronation, Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn married Suthida Tidjai — the deputy head of his personal security detail and a former flight attendant — and gave her the title of queen, according to Reuters. The announcement of the surprise nuptials Wednesday was carried in the Royal Gazette — and the wedding footage was later shown on the nightly Royal News segment aired on all Thai TV channels. Vajiralongkorn, 66, also known as King Rama X, became constitutional monarch after his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died in October 2016 after 70 years on the throne. On Saturday, he will be officially crowned in Buddhist and Brahmin ceremonies, which are expected to cost upward of $30 million, followed by a procession through Bangkok the following day. In 2014, he appointed Tidjai as a deputy commander of his bodyguard unit and then promoted her to a full general in the Royal Thai Army in December 2016. Among the dignitaries at the royal wedding were Prayuth Chan-ocha, leader of the military junta that has run the country since a 2014 army coup, as well as other royal family members and palace advisers. The thrice-divorced Vajiralongkorn, who has seven children, had been romantically linked to Tidjai by royal observers and foreign media, but the palace had previously never acknowledged a relationship between the two. The couple is known to spend most of their time living between Thailand and Germany, where Vajiralongkorn owns a $12 million mansion in Munich, according to the Guardian. Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932 but the royal family still holds immense loyalty, power and wealth.<doc-sep>next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The official coronation of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn , who is also known as Rama X, involves months of rituals that will culminate in three days of elaborate pageantry, including a parade and an appearance by the monarch on a balcony of the Grand Palace. The final event will be a royal barge procession in October. The last coronation, of Vajiralongkorn's late father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was on May 5, 1950 . Bhumibol died in 2016 at age 88 after reigning for seven decades. ___ PRELIMINARY RITUALS: Preparations for the royal coronation began in April with the collection and blessings of water from across Thailand to be used in this weekend's ceremonies. Prayers by monks at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha preceded the inscriptions of royal golden plaques and the Royal Seal of State, according to a schedule released by the Thai government. The king also has paid his respects to earlier monarchs, Rama I and Rama V, at statues and memorials in Bangkok, and worshipped "sacred beings" at locations within the palace. ___ MAY 4, SATURDAY, CORONATION DAY: In a royal purification ceremony at the Grand Palace , holy water is poured over the king's head. An anointment ceremony with more consecrated water follows. He then ascends the royal throne and sits beneath the royal 9-tiered umbrella, used only by the king, to receive the royal golden plaque, royal regalia and weapons of sovereignty, among other symbols of the monarchy, from the chief Brahmin — a dignitary whose role reflects the influence of Hinduism on Thai's monarchy. The king later receives members of the royal family, the Privy Council and Cabinet, among other senior officials, who will pay their respects in the Throne Hall. Afterward he will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to announce he is the royal defender of Buddhism. The day's events end with a ceremony of the Assumption of the Royal Residence, a symbolic palace housewarming. ___ MAY 5, SUNDAY: The day begins with a ceremony in the Throne Hall where the king grants royal titles to members of the royal family. It ends with a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) royal procession involving 343 men, some of them carrying the king through old Bangkok in an ornately decorated palanquin, allowing Thais to pay homage to their new king. A light and sound show and a display by drones are planned for the evening. Free food and public transport are provided for spectators. ___ MAY 6, MONDAY: The king greets the public from the balcony of the Grand Palace in the late afternoon and then holds a reception for the diplomatic corps. ___ OCTOBER 2019: In the final rite of the coronation, about 2,300 oarsmen, paddling to rhythmic barge-rowing songs, will convey the king on one of 50 ornate royal barges to present robes to Buddhist monks at Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn), one of the most famous of many temples along Bangkok's Chao Phraya River.<doc-sep>
For weeks, officials in Thailand have been collecting water from sources across the country’s 76 provinces between the auspicious hours of 11:52 am and 12:38 pm every Saturday. This weekend, the sacred fluid — stored in traditional vases in the lavish Grand Palace at the center of the capital Bangkok — will be used to “purify” King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or Rama X, as he ascends the throne in a coronation ceremony that is considered Thailand’s most important event of the year — and perhaps the century. The last time the country crowned a new king was in 1950, so for most Thais this will be the first coronation of their lifetimes. King Maha Vajiralongkorn inherits the throne from his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who during his 70-year reign was widely revered and seen as a unifying force in the country. Bhumibol died in October 2016, marking the start of a year-long mourning period across Thailand. Vajiralongkorn, the King’s only son, took the throne in December, but the formal succession was delayed as he asked for more time to grieve. It is unclear what kind of influence the new King Vajiralongkorn will wield over Thailand’s future. The country has long been politically divided, and its first elections since a 2014 military coup were held in late March in the lead-up to his coronation. The military-backed party won, entrenching the army’s lasting grip on power, though the palace retains ultimate authority. Since the army took power, Thailand has tightened its control over political dissent and clamped down on free speech. There has also been a sharp rise in criminal defamation cases, particularly lèse majesté; Thailand has one of the world’s strictest laws outlawing insults to the crown. What will the coronation ceremony entail? The elaborate three-day ceremony, which is estimated to cost the Thai government $31 million, combines Buddhist and Hindu Brahmin rituals. The crowning will take place at the Grand Palace on Saturday, May 4. It will include several ceremonial rites such as the seating of the king on an octagonal throne as eight people, including members of the royal family and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, pour the sacred water into his hands. On Sunday, the newly crowned king will greet the public in a 4.3-mile long royal procession; elevated on a gilded palanquin, he will be carried by soldiers from the Grand Palace and around the historic old quarter of the country’s capital. Military men in traditional garb will march in step, some taking to the streets on horseback, before a light and sound show, and a drone display, take the evening away. The festivities do not end there — Monday has been declared a public holiday, and the king plans to greet the public from the balcony of the Grand Palace before meeting Thai and foreign dignitaries. What do we know about King Vajiralongkorn? Vajiralongkorn leads a very private life, rarely makes public appearances and spends much of his time abroad. The 66-year-old studied in the U.K. and Australia, and later served as a career officer in the Thai military where he trained with western forces, according to Agence France-Presse. He has a passion for flying and enjoys piloting his Boeing 737 aircraft in Bavaria, where he also owns a number of lavish residences. The new king isn’t entirely without controversy. In 2016, a video surfaced of the royal walking through a shopping mall in Germany wearing a crop top and revealing his tattoos. The clip was taken by a Thai citizen who recognized the king, and prompted Facebook to block users in Thailand from viewing it after pressure from the conservative kingdom’s authorities. He also famously owned a poodle, Foo-Foo, to which he was so endeared that he appointed him as an Air Chief Marshall. U.S. diplomatic cables dated 2009 and published by WikiLeaks described Vajiralongkorn as “long known for violent and unpredictable mood swings.” His relationships have also been the subject of much interest — he has been divorced three times, and in 2014 several family members of his most recent divorcee, Srirasmi Suwadee, were jailed over allegations of royal insult, abuse of royal connections, theft and bribery. The king has a new queen — who is she? Earlier this week, the official palace gazette confirmed that Vajiralongkorn is now legally married to a former air stewardess for Thai Airways, making her his fourth wife.