In a modest Rangoon apartment, the granddaughter of Burma’s last king lives poor and unrecognised by her neighbours – a far cry from the power and riches of her ancestor.
Princess Hteik Su PhayaGyi said the childhood days when her family had a bevy of servants and retained some of its royal status were now a distant memory.
The British colonial regime dethroned her grandfather King Thibaw in 1885 and later the military junta, which ruled the country for decades, kept the family out of the public eye.