I know that many New Mandala readers have been waiting for the re-appearance of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn in the news.

He still doesn’t seem to have been out in public but I did notice that the Bangkok Post announced the graduation of his youngest daughter, Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts. She reportedly graduates with First Class Honours, a Gold Medal and a 3.93 GPA.

Princess Sirindhorn had similarly outstanding results during her undergraduate history degree, as did Princess Chulabhorn in science and Princess Bajrakitiyabha in political science. Has a senior Thai royal ever received Second Class Honours? Some more minor royals, such as Bangkok Governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra (check him out on Facebook), certainly have (which is, I might add, a very impressive achievement).

In the United Kingdom, Prince William famously took a 2:1 at St. Andrew’s University (details on the British degree classification system are available here). He was, you may recall, “delighted” with the result which was better than his father’s 2:2 at Cambridge.

We don’t tend to get many royals (Thai or otherwise) enrolling at the ANU. But I know that other Universities do. Perhaps some New Mandala readers who know more about royal degrees could provide some further insight.