Royal life overseas is never free from intrusions. When Prince Chakkrabong Bhuvanath decided to marry his Kiev-born Ekaterina Ivanovna Desnitsky without the permission of his father, Chulalongkorn, he was compelled to hide his secret from the Russian media and those close to Tsar Nicholas II. He held a private marriage ceremony in Istanbul, and left his new wife in Singapore on his journey back to Siam. Chulalongkorn was furious when he discovered that his son brought home a farang wife.
In Lausanne, Princess Mother Sangwal, in the wake of the death of King Ananda in 1946, requested the Swiss police to guard Villa Vadhana 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of the young King Bhumibol. What she did not realise was that the content of the reports from the Swiss police on the family’s daily activities inside the villa revealed many dark secrets she would rather conceal from the public.