Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn was named as successor in the moments after the king’s death, but a formal coronation might be months or years away. Thailand’s prime minister said on Thursday that Vajiralongkorn had asked for time to mourn with his country before he is appointed.
During the process of appointing the new sovereign the privy council chair, now Prem Tinsulanonda, will serve as regent of the country.
In May 1950, the Bangkok Post described King Bhumibol’s coronation thus: “Three days of elaborate rituals began in the morning of 5 May, with a ceremonial bath within the vast courtyard of the Amerind Hall, where the king, dressed in the attire of a Brahmin priest, faced east and had holy water poured over his shoulders. Later, the king, in full coronation attire, received eight representatives of the government in the large reception hall.