Mourners line Bangkok streets to pay respects to Thailand’s Princess Bha

Funeral procession travels to palace as people remember royal’s campaigning and work for underprivileged

As the sun began to set on the golden spires and gilded finials of Bangkok’s Grand Palace, the gates waited to open for the return of a princess.

Since December 2022, Princess Bajrakitiyabha had been in hospital, having collapsed while out training her dogs. After nearly four years in a coma, the princess died earlier this week .

On Saturday afternoon, her body finally left the hospital in a royal funeral procession of flashing motorcycles and cars travelling through the city centre’s empty streets, which were closed to traffic but lined for kilometres by citizens dressed in black and officials in white suits with black armbands.

They had been waiting for hours for the princess’s arrival in a silver van, with her father, the king, in a cream-coloured car behind her. The officials present saluted, while the crowd – remaining seated on the sidewalk – silently bowed their heads towards their hands. Many were in tears.

From morning, mourners had gathered on the edges of the streets with umbrellas and fans to cope with the hot and humid conditions in the heart of the city.

Wanida Lainun, wearing a brooch with the princess’s image, told the Guardian her aunt was part of Princess Bajrakitiyabha’s project to help underprivileged people in Chiang Mai in the country’s north.

The princess, known affectionately in Thailand as Princess Bha, trained as a lawyer, and served the country in several official roles including as an ambassador to Austria and in the royal security command.