It probably sounds like a nightmare you’ve had before: you’re drowning,
helpless, kicking and clawing across the water. As you fight for your life, you peer through the
surface to see a group of people. They can save you! But instead they just watch, staring at you
from above as your lungs slowly fill with water. For Queen Sunandha of Siam, this was reality.
Today on Nutty History, we’re covering the tragic and mysterious tale of the woman who
drowned in front of a group of onlookers that did nothing to save her. Or her two-year-old daughter.
Oh, and she was pregnant. And a freakin’ queen! But before we delve into why no one saved this
untouchable royal, please subscribe to our channel and check out our other crazy cool content.
In 1877, Seventeen year old Princess Sunandha Kumariratana became Queen consort of Siam,
AKA Thailand. As the daughter of King Mongkut, Sunandha had royal blood. But she became queen
consort from her marriage to King Mongkut’s son, King Rama the 5th. Uh, yeah if anyone’s keeping
track that makes her husband her half-brother, but we’re just gonna speed through the icky royal
incest bit. Though Sunandha was the King’s first wife, and was said to be his favorite,
she was far from the only woman in his life, or even queen. After her own marriage, Sunandha
became a literal sister-wife when the king also wed her two younger sisters. During his lifetime,
King Rama the 5th reportedly had 99 consorts and 77 children. How did he find the time?
While Sunanda’s short life is shrouded by the mystery of her death, her husband continued in
a successful reign, and is credited with saving Siam from Western colonization and abolishing
slavery. At the time of her death, Sunandha was travelling with her nearly two-year-old daughter,
Princess Karnabhorn Bejraratana and was pregnant with a child who she thought to be male,
meaning she was possibly carrying the heir to the throne. The mother-daughter duo were on
their way to visit the royal family’s summer residence outside of Bangkok,
Bang Pa-In. And these digs were definitely fit for a queen. King Rama had gone all out on the
palatial estate, which required crossing the treacherous Chao Phraya river via boat.
That’s a bit more “waterfront” than we’d want our property. Due to their specialty status, Sunandha,
the princess, and the baby on board had a separate boat from the guards, who towed them from a larger
vessel. By some accounts, the strong currents of the river abruptly rose and capsized the Queen’s
boat. Others blame a colliding steamboat. Whatever the cause, Sunandha and her daughter were flipped
out of their boat into the rushing water of the river in their heavy royal clothing. But
if there was a literal boatload of guards meant to escort and protect the queen and her family,
surely they would save her...right? Or assist a drowning infant who couldn’t swim? Right? Bueller?
The story follows that instead of coming to their aid, the main guard merely watched as the
Queen consort, her unborn child, and the princess flailed against the water. The other attendants
followed suit and stood by like not-so-innocent bystanders. The royal family members drowned.
So what gives? Were these guards cruel and heartless monsters or just terrible at their
jobs? Probably neither. It’s thought instead that they were actually just following the law.
Under an ancient Siamese law, it was forbidden for any commoner to touch a member of the royal
family. The law’s origins aren’t entirely known, but it’s thought to be rooted in
ancient religious beliefs and superstitions. Other monarchies, like England, have similar
traditions dating back to Medieval times. These rulers were seen as divine beings closest to God,
so you couldn’t have any old pauper just putting their paws on the princess.
In addition, the penalty in Siam for breaking this law was no slap on the wrist.
Touching a royal was a capital offense, punishable by death. Still, we’re thinking
this might have been a good occasion to break the rules. After all, the King might give you
a bit of wiggle room if it meant saving the lives of his nearest and dearest. Risking
capital punishment wasn’t the only reason these guards may have chosen to stand aside, though.
Unfortunately for Queen Sunandha, another long-held Siamese belief was that one should
never try to rescue a drowning person. It’s life-guarding 101 that drowning
victims often endanger those trying to save them by dragging them downwards.
So this theory holds water in that regard. A less scientific reasoning was the fear that to
save someone from drowning was to intervene with the spirits that lived in the water.
When a person drowned, the water was claiming their life, and if you rescued them, a life
was owed. As the savior, you would be marked for imminent doom as a substitute for the person you
saved. And if you’ve ever seen Final Destination, you might think twice about trying to cheat death.
King Rama the fifth did not take the news well. Then again, there’s probably no way to take the
deaths of your wife and two children well. In one version of events, the king supposedly imprisoned
the main guard or all guards who followed the law and therefore let his loved ones die. In another
account, there actually were guards who jumped in the water and attempted to save the queen,
no-touching be damned. In which case, the King would have had no reason to fix his blame on the
guards. Whatever truly went down, Rama set about preparing the most glamorous funeral of all time.
The well attended spectacle was a ten-day affair that took 10 months of preparations. Ringing in
at a cool half mil, the deceased children were surrounded by jewels and embalmed to sit in golden
thrones. Entire buildings were constructed for Sunandha’s cremation ceremony. Precious woods were
used to create a 280 foot tall funeral pyre, which burned through the night to the sound of horns. In
death, the queen was larger than life. Despite all of the reforms during King Rama the fifth’s reign,
he hadn’t changed the law that would’ve saved his wife. But after the deaths of his family members,
the king supposedly repealed the ancient law, as some things are clearly better left in the
past. Would you have risked death to save the queen? Or at least have thrown her an oar? At
least in Titanic, Jack got a piece of door. Let us know your take in the comments and
check out our other videos for more nutty tales from history. Thanks for watching.