Prince Khemkhaeng takes on greater responsibility as the King undergoes chemotherapyThe Prince was elevated to the rank of Somdet Phra Anujadhiraj (Heir Apparent) shortly after the King was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer22 December 4741Above: His Royal Highness Prince Khemkhaeng (left); The Grand Palace of Hanzen (right)⠀⠀His Royal Highness, Prince Khemkhaeng has had his royal duties expanded ten-fold while His Majesty the King undergoes treatment for his advanced pancreatic cancer. Despite being the King's third son, born to the King's second consort, the Prince was elevated to the rank of Heir Apparent last month when news of the King's prognosis was made public. While the elevation of Prince Khemkhaeng shocked many conservative monarchists, the vast majority of observers anticipated that Prince Khemkhaeng would receive some high-ranking post in the government on the basis of the Prince's strong relationships with the military's top brass, in addition to his popularity among young Hanzanese men.
⠀⠀"His Royal Highness [Prince Khemkhaeng] is a very ambitious and assertive young man," said Professor Stitaya Baimai, Dean of Political Science at Khattaya University. "While his brothers were busy with academia, Prince Khemkhaeng has spent his time in the military, building connections and laying the foundation for his own base of support."
⠀⠀Shortly after his elevation to the role of Heir Apparent, Prince Khemkhaeng also assumed the role of Private Secretary to the King, Regent President of the Royal Council of Hanzen, the Bureau of the Royal Household and the Crown Property Bureau respectively. These additional roles grant enormous power in the Prince's hands, placing him directly below the King in terms of legal authority.
⠀⠀While being just 24 years old, Prince Khemkhaeng has already gained a number of powerful allies, including Narong Aphichari, Commander-in-Chief of Hanzen's Royal Air Force. It is widely reported within the military that Commander Aphichari has a deep respect for His Royal Highness, with some reports suggesting that Aphichari views the Prince as his own son. Indeed, the Prince has been under his stewardship since he entered the Air Force at age 17.
Above: His Royal Highness Prince Khemkhaeng (age 17) poses for a picture with his cadet comrades in the Royal Armed Forces⠀⠀Prime Minister Kamon Thongyai, leader of the governing National Unity Alliance, has also previously indicated his support for the young Prince over his elder brothers, suggesting in a veiled manner that it was Prince Khemkhaeng alone who had the "strength, fortitude and popular support" to govern Hanzen. In contrast to the other Princes, Khemkhaeng is undoubtably popular, with a vast number of young male supporters who prefer the Prince's populist rhetoric, military service and patronage of athletics to the elder Princes' academic bona fides.
⠀⠀Prince Khemkhaeng is an ardent supporter and practitioner of Muay Phra boxing, encouraging the combat sport as a means of physical exercise, self-defence, attacking, recreation, and personal advancement. The Prince has personally funded hundreds of Muay Phra gyms, associations and clubs across the country and has taken great interest in the development of the discipline. The influx of investment into many rural communities has likewise won the young prince countless supporters in Hanzen's vast rural countryside.
⠀⠀As Heir Apparent, the Prince has continued his philanthropic work in addition to taking on greater state responsibilities. Last week, the Prince was joined by many high-ranking military officials to discuss the on-going modernization of the Royal Armed Forces. Earlier this week, Prince Khemkhaeng was in Eastern Hanzen, touring local farming cooperatives and listening to the concerns of common people.
President Seichō of Seko visits Hanzen, stresses importance of partnership with developing worldEn route back to Seko, President Seichō travelled by way of Hanzen in order to meet with Prince Khemkhaeng and various Daenist leaders8 September 4742Above: Her Eminence Pressident Seichō Sakura (left) meets with an Upayanâ monk, stressing the importance of "intra-faith dialogue" and "pan-Daenist solidarity"⠀⠀Her Eminence, President Seichō Sakura of Seko visited Hanzen briefly, en route back to Seko after
attending the enthronement of the Emperor of Yingdala, Yu Li. During her short stay in the country, Her Eminence was hosted by the Royal Family and a number of Upayanâ temples.
⠀⠀His Royal Highness Prince Khemkhaeng met President Seichō at the Parchand International Airport in Udon Nakhon, where the two leaders reviewed the military guard of honour before embarking to the Grand Palace. There, Seichō was received by the ailing King for whom the President, a Daenist Abbess, performed a prayer and blessing. Afterward, President Seichō and Prince Khemkhaeng held an extended meeting with various government and military officials before concluding with a vegetarian state dinner, in recognition of the guest's dietary preferences.
⠀⠀The next morning, Prince Khemkhaeng brought the President to a number of Upayanâ temples and monasteries throughout the Udon Nakhon metropolitan area. The President repeatedly stressed the importance of an "intra-faith dialogue" among the various schools in the Daenist tradition, and encouraging those she spoke with to practice "pan-Daenist solidarity."
⠀⠀The Prince, for his part, spoke of the "Sekowan model of development" as a path to economic stability and food security for the rural regions of Hanzen. Seko's rapid economic conversion from corporate management to a co-operative and democratic alternative has had an impact that has spanned all the way to
Tropica. The Prince specifically spoke of the strength of co-operatives in creating sustainable rural employment through business models that are resilient to economic and environmental shocks, while empowering marginalized peoples.
⠀⠀Later in the evening, the Prince joined the President for a public banquet held in central Udon Nakhon wherein the President personally distributed food for needy children and poor families. The two leaders eventually shared a meal on stage before the Prince delivered a speech in the President's honour. Prince Khemkhaeng spoke briefly, emphasizing the new relationship between Seko and Hanzen.
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In the words of Her Eminence, today Seko and Hanzen take the first step in joining hands to liberate 'all oppressed people in the world from material and spiritual suffering,'" said the Prince. "Let's dare to think differently about Dovani, because everything man is capable of imagining, he can create!"
⠀⠀The President took to the podium shortly afterwards, praising the young prince for his commitment to "social justice and development," vowing to build "strong partnerships throughout the developing world."
⠀⠀"A new breeze is blowing across Dovani, and the breeze is called solidarity," said President Seichō. "From the sagacious
words of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Yingdala, to the noble work of His Royal Majesty the King and of Prince Khemkhaeng, to our humble efforts in Seko, let it be known that an age of mutual aid, fraternity and prosperity is coming!"
The Phra Rath (Phra State) is a widely-circulated broadsheet newspaper in Hanzen, from a centre-left nationalist perspective.