King Norodom Sihanouk
Some of you have probably heard about King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia dying on Monday, October 15th. I thought I would just fill you in a little
He is not the current king. He became king in 1941. He is attributed to helping Cambodia get their independence from France and is respected by the Cambodian people. And during the Khmer Rouge in the late 70's, they were under house arrest. However, in 2004, he ceded from the throne. A 9 member panel appointed his oldest son, Norodom Sihamoni, as king at that time and he is still king today. King Norodom Sihanouk died of a heart attack in Bejing, China. He and his wife spend quite a bit of time there. In fact, a few years ago, during election time, it was rumored that the Prime Minister wanted to do away with the monarchy. (The royal family are in an opposing party from the Prime Minister) At that time, King Norodom Sihanouk said that if he did, that he and his wife would move to China.
Like most other countries, the monarchy is a figurehead only. They have no real political power. Due the the respect given the late king, the Prime Minister has backed down on a few things from time to time. His son, the current King, was a ballet instructor in France when he was elected to be king. He does whatever royal obligations he has to do, but has never made any kind of comments about his stands. He is not married and has not children.
Truly, we don't expect there to be any real change here. It would be like some key person in the US dying; you respected them, but nothing really changes.
On Wednesday, I drove to the post office to mail post cards and check our box. The post office is in the north part of town and we live in the south. I drove all the way up Norodom Blvd. No problems. By afternoon, there were tens of thousands of people walking up that road going to the palace as the body of the ex-king had just returned from China.
Just in case you wanted to know.
Ronda
He is not the current king. He became king in 1941. He is attributed to helping Cambodia get their independence from France and is respected by the Cambodian people. And during the Khmer Rouge in the late 70's, they were under house arrest. However, in 2004, he ceded from the throne. A 9 member panel appointed his oldest son, Norodom Sihamoni, as king at that time and he is still king today. King Norodom Sihanouk died of a heart attack in Bejing, China. He and his wife spend quite a bit of time there. In fact, a few years ago, during election time, it was rumored that the Prime Minister wanted to do away with the monarchy. (The royal family are in an opposing party from the Prime Minister) At that time, King Norodom Sihanouk said that if he did, that he and his wife would move to China.
Like most other countries, the monarchy is a figurehead only. They have no real political power. Due the the respect given the late king, the Prime Minister has backed down on a few things from time to time. His son, the current King, was a ballet instructor in France when he was elected to be king. He does whatever royal obligations he has to do, but has never made any kind of comments about his stands. He is not married and has not children.
Truly, we don't expect there to be any real change here. It would be like some key person in the US dying; you respected them, but nothing really changes.
On Wednesday, I drove to the post office to mail post cards and check our box. The post office is in the north part of town and we live in the south. I drove all the way up Norodom Blvd. No problems. By afternoon, there were tens of thousands of people walking up that road going to the palace as the body of the ex-king had just returned from China.
Just in case you wanted to know.
Ronda
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