Queen Sirikit, the mother of Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn, has died aged 93.
She passed away peacefully in a Bangkok hospital at 21:21 local time (14:21 GMT) on Friday, according to the Thai Royal Household Bureau.
Sirikit had suffered several illnesses while in hospital since 2019, including a blood infection this month, it added.
For more than six decades, Queen Sirikit was married to Thailand's longest-reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016. In their globe-trotting heyday, she was seen as a style icon.
King Vajiralongkorn has ordered that the Thai Royal Household Bureau organise a royal funeral. Queen Sirikit's body will lie in state at the Grand Palace's Dusit Thorne Hall in Bangkok, with a year of mourning observed by royal family members.
Queen Sirikit met her future husband while studying music in Paris, and they married on 28 April 1950. As a young couple in the 1960s, they were recognized for their elegance and had the opportunity to meet numerous global leaders and celebrities.
She was viewed as a key maternal figure for her nation, with her birthday, August 12, celebrated as Mother's Day since 1976.
Despite suffering a stroke in 2012, her legacy as a symbol of grace and dignity endures in Thailand.
