The Thai king has surprisingly rehabilitated his official second wife, who fell out of favor last year.

As the royal family announced on Wednesday, Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi can once again wear all her royal and military titles.

She will also be acquitted of all crimes she was previously accused of.

She was officially accused in October of being disloyal to the royal family.

Sineenat is said to have pursued the goal of becoming queen herself.

The current Queen Suthida was only elevated to the rank of Queen shortly before her husband's coronation in May last year.

Sineenat is said to have tried to prevent this.

Till Fähnders

Political correspondent for Southeast Asia.

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However, according to Wednesday's announcement, this palace intrigue never happened.

There had been rumors for days that Sineenat's rehabilitation might be imminent.

Photos appeared showing her at the airport in Germany with the king.

The monarch Rama X, whose full royal name is Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, spends most of his time in Bavaria.

He owns a villa on Lake Starnberg, but currently lives with his entourage in the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Queen Suthida, 42, is the fourth wife of the 68-year-old monarch.

The 35-year-old Sineenat, also known as "Koi", was appointed "Chao Khun Phra", a royal aristocratic wife, just over a year ago.

The move to elevate the former nurse, trained pilot and Army Major General to the rank of concubine was unusual.

With the beginning of the constitutional monarchy in Thailand in 1932, the tradition of royal polygamy had also come to an end.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016, was married to Queen Sirikit, the now 88-year-old mother of the king, for 66 years.