{{Short description|Queen of Siam from 1877 to 1880}} {{Expand language|topic=|langcode=Th|otherarticle=สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสุนันทากุมารีรัตน์ พระบรมราชเทวี|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox royalty | consort = yes | name = {{ubl|Sunanda Kumariratana|{{langn|th|สุนันทากุมารีรัตน์}}}} | image = Queen Sunandha of Siam.jpg | caption = Sunanda Kumariratana in 1877 | succession = Queen consort of Siam | reign = 1877 – 31 May 1880 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1860|11|10}} | birth_place = Bangkok, Siam | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1880|5|31|1860|11|10}} | death_place = Pak Kret, Siam | spouse = Chulalongkorn (Rama V) | issue = Kannabhorn Bejaratana | full name = ''Phra Chao Luk Thoe Phra Ong Chao'' Sunanda Kumariratana | posthumous name = ''Somdet Phra Nang Chao'' Sunanda Kumariratana ''Phra Boromma Rajadevi'' | dynasty = Chakri | father = Mongkut (Rama IV) | mother = Piam Sucharitakul }} {{Chulalongkornwives}} '''Sunanda Kumariratana'''<ref>Finestone, Jeffrey. ''The Royal Family of Thailand: The Descendants of King Chulalongkorn''. Bangkok : Phitsanulok Publishing, 1989, p. 64</ref> ({{langx|th|สุนันทากุมารีรัตน์}}, {{RTGS|''Sunantha Kumarirat''}}, {{IAST|Sunandākumārīratana}}; 10 November 1860 &ndash; 31 May 1880) was a queen consort of Siam.<ref name=q/> She was one of the four royal wives of King Chulalongkorn.<ref name=q>{{cite web|url=https://www.silpa-mag.com/history/article_33627|title=ย้อนรอยโศกนาฏกรรม ตำนานเรื่องเล่าของ "สมเด็จพระนางเรือล่ม" อัครมเหสีในรัชกาลที่ 5|trans-title=Retrace the tragedy, Legend of "Wrecked Queen," the queen consort of King Rama V|language=thai|date=2020-11-28|accessdate=2021-02-01|work=Art & Culture Magazine}}</ref>

==Background== She was a daughter and fiftieth child of Siamese King Mongkut (Rama IV) and Princess Consort Piam.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=indochinoise|first=Société académique|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GkJBAQAAMAAJ&q=sunanda+kumariratana&pg=PA408|title=Bulletin de la Société académique indochinoise de France|date=1882|language=fr}}</ref> She was the half-sister and first wife of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Siam (now Thailand).<ref name=":0"/> The king's other two wives were her younger sisters, Their Majesty Queen Savang Vadhana and Queen Saovabha Phongsri.<ref name=":0" />

The queen and her daughter Kannabhorn Bejaratana drowned when the steam boat ''Sorawan'' collided with their royal boat towed by the steam yacht ''Pan Marut'' on the way to the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace (Summer Palace).<ref name=":0" />

There is an often repeated myth that the many witnesses to the accident did not dare to touch the queen, a capital offense—not even to save her life. However, this was not the case; the King's diary records that boatmen dived into the water, pulled the queen and her daughter from the entangling curtains, and carried them to another boat, where attendants worked in vain to resuscitate them.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57ZeDwAAQBAJ&q=Sunanda+Kumariratana+drown+myth&pg=PA63|title=The Palace Law of Ayutthaya and the Thammasat: Law and Kingship in Siam|publisher=APD SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.|year=2016|isbn=9780877277699|pages=63}}</ref> No one else died in the accident.<ref name=":0" />

== Funeral == The grief-stricken Chulalongkorn demanded a resplendent funeral for them. Preparations for the funeral took 10 months and the funeral ceremony did not begin until 10 March 1881. The bodies of the queen and princess were dried with injections of quicksilver and stored in golden urns while precious woods were collected for the construction of a funeral pyre; royal facilities where the king and entourage resided during the cremation ceremonies were also constructed in a location referred to as ''Pra Mane''. The funeral pyre was reported to be {{convert|280|feet|meter}} tall and was built over an altar where the urns were placed for cremation.<ref name=":0" />

The proceedings and celebrations were opulent, attended by many, and documented in great detail. Chulalongkorn lit the funeral pyre around 6:00{{nbsp}}p.m. on 15 March to the sound of horns, and the pyre burned throughout the night.<ref name=":0" /> Celebrations ended on 20 March with a procession to the Grand Palace.<ref name=":0"/>

== Ancestors == {{ahnentafel |collapsed=yes |align=center |title=Ancestors of Sunanda Kumariratana |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |1= 1. ''' Sunanda Kumariratana''' |2= 2. Mongkut |3= 3. Piam Sucharitakul |4= 4. Buddha Loetla Nabhalai |5= 5. Princess Bunrot |6= 6. Taeng Sucharitakul, Luang Asasamdaeng |7= 7. Nak, Thao Sucharitthamrong |8= 8. Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke |9= 9. Nak na Bang Xang |10= 10. Ngoen Sae-tan |11= 11. Kaeo, Princess Sri Sudarak |12= |13= |14= |15= }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Queens and Consorts of Thailand}} {{Thai princesses}} {{Portal bar|Siam|Biography|Royalty|Monarchy}} {{Authority control}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunanda Kumariratana}} Category:Queens consort of Thailand Category:Consorts of Chulalongkorn Category:19th-century Thai women Category:19th-century Chakri dynasty Category:Deaths by drowning Category:Accidental deaths in Thailand Category:1860 births Category:1880 deaths Category:Thai female Phra Ong Chao Category:Thai princesses consort Category:Children of Mongkut Category:Daughters of kings