The purges have somewhat overshadowed recent efforts by the government to rehabilitate the prince’s image, including broadcasts of his riding in bicycle tours to celebrate the king and queen and the release of a video showing him caring for his son Dipangkorn in Germany. Critics said that after the purge of his third wife, those images sought to present him as a healthy, responsible father.
The efforts suggested that the military had cast its lot with the prince, trying to forge the same kind of mutually beneficial alliance it had with his father. The king heads the armed forces and must approve all governments, while the military draws its legitimacy from the monarch’s blessing.
Then there’s the matter of who will be the new queen. Like so many other parts of the crown prince’s life, the answer is shrouded in secrecy.
A former flight attendant, Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhaya, has appeared by the prince’s side on the official royal broadcasts and has been bestowed the military rank of lieutenant general.
Kasit Piromya, a former foreign minister, said he met Ms. Suthida many times when he was in government.
“She’s an air hostess, very lively, highly intelligent,” he said. “She can ski, she can bike. She loves music. She knows what is good wine in Italy.”
Ms. Suthida appears to live with the crown prince in Bavaria.
Bild, the German tabloid, published a photograph in July of the crown prince on an airport runway in low-slung jeans, with what appeared to be tattoos covering his back and arms. The prince’s companion, possibly Ms. Suthida, is wearing stiletto heels and a tight shirt, midriff exposed, an outfit that might not raise eyebrows in Europe but would disqualify any tourist from entering the Grand Palace in Bangkok.