Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra was born on Sunday, 6 May 1923 in London, the United Kingdom. The first child and the only daughter of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla and Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagarindra Boromrajajonani, she was simply registered in her birth certificate as “May,” the month of her birth. Her two younger brothers, born in Germany and the United States, later became King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) and King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), bestowed upon her the name and title “Mom Chao (Her Serene Highness) Princess Galyani Vadhana.” King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) later elevated her title to “Phra Worawong Thoe Phra Ong Chao” (Her Highness Princess). In the year 1935, King Ananda Mahidol installed her as Somdet Phra Chao Phinang Thoe Chao Fa Galyani Vadhana, and when she attained the sixth cycle (72nd birthday anniversary) in 1995, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej invested her with the title of the first Celestial Princess of Krom rank in his reign, as “Somdet Phra Chao Phinang Thoe Chao Fa Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra.”

Soon after her birth, the family moved from London to Southbourne in the east, and later to Boscombe on the southern coast of England. When she was six months old, the Princess accompanied her royal parents on a home visit to Siam, before moving with her family to Germany on 1 July 1925, which is where Prince Ananda was born.


The Prince Father returned to Bangkok again to participate in the Royal Cremation Ceremony for King Vajiravudh in 1926. He stayed on to join the Royal Coronation Ceremony for King Prajadhipok. During that time, Dr. Francis B. Sayre, the former American Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recommended a childcare center called Champ Soleil in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a proper and hygienic center, since the owner was a physician. The Princess Mother therefore decided to entrust her daughter and son there for several months. There they learned to speak French.


Toward the end of 1926, the Prince Father moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, with his family, to study medicine at Harvard University. Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra started her schooling at the kindergarten level at Park School in Boston. It was also here where His Majesty the King was born.




When the Prince Father completed his medical studies in 1928, he came back to Siam with his family and took up residence at Sapathum Palace. Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana attended a primary-level class at Rajini School. After the Prince Father passed away in 1929, the Princess Mother was granted royal permission in 1933 to take her three children to reside in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana spent two months at Champ Soleil to refresh her French and enrolled in the Miremont elementary school until completing her primary education.


On 2 March 1934, King Prajadhipok abdicated. The government asked His Highness Prince Ananda Mahidol to succeed to the throne. The Princess Mother moved her family to a rented house at the town of Pully, lying next to Lausanne, and named the house “Villa Vadhana.”





In 1935, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana enrolled in a secondary school for girls named Ecole Superieure des Jeunes Filles de la Ville de Lausanne, where she passed the exam and was admitted to class 5 of the six-grade secondary level. She took up German and Latin studies as well. Later in April 1938, she moved to continue her studies in Geneva at a boarding school named International School of Geneva. She excelled academically and came first in the final exam of the school and third in all Switzerland.
Toward the end of 1938, King Ananda Mahidol came back to Bangkok for the first time since ascending the throne, accompanied by the Princess Mother, the Royal Brother, and the Royal Sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana.


In 1942, the Princess furthered her studies at the Faculty of Sciences in the field of chemistry, at the University of Lausanne. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry (Diplome de Chimiste A) in 1948. While pursuing her science degree, she also studied social science and education for a Diplome de Sciences Sociales Pedagogiques, involving teacher’s education, literature, philosophy, and psychology, which were some of her personal interests.

 
   
       
   
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