Her preparations for this trip included a six-month intensive English course with Miss Edna Sarah Cole, headmistress of Kullasatri Wang Lang School for girls (later to become Wattana Wittaya Academy).

From there, she went to live with an American family, the Adamsens of Berkeley, California, for a year, attending Emerson School with her friend Ubol Palakawongse na Ayudhya, a member of the nobility.

"[6] Prince Mahidol Adulyadej had arranged for the girls to stay with the Armstrong family in Hartford, Connecticut, and to attend North Western Grammar School to perfect their English reading, writing, and speaking skills.

After their engagement, Prince Mahidol bade his fiancée move to Cambridge where she lived with the Williston sisters, Emily and Constance, who tutored her in algebra, Latin, French, and English.

While Mom Sangwan and her children were living in Switzerland, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) abdicated on 2 March 1935, relinquishing his right to appoint an heir to the throne.

The princess mother took advantage of this brief sojourn in their homeland to make sure that the king saw as much as he could of the important temples and historic sites in Bangkok and the environs, and of the national arts and culture.

The increasing number of Thai students in Switzerland, who had moved there from war-torn Belgium, France, and Italy, meant that they had to take turns as guests of the princess mother.

[citation needed] The young king and his brother remained at Ecole Nouvélle de la Suisse Romande until 1941, boarding at the school during their last two years there, as it was their mother's wish for them to learn how to take care of themselves.

[citation needed] The Thai government requested that the king postpone his return to Switzerland in order to present the new constitution to the nation on 9 May 1946, and to open parliament on 1 June.

On the morning of 9 June 1946, only four days before he was due to travel to Switzerland, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) was found shot dead in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, Grand Palace, Bangkok.

In February 1955, three of the late-king's attendants: his secretary Senator Chaleo Patoomros and two pages, Nai Chit and Butr Paramasrin, were executed by Phibun's regime on charges of conspiracy to kill the king after a long and confusing trial.

As regent, the princess mother carried out various official duties on behalf of the king, including accepting diplomatic credentials from newly posted ambassadors, conferring degrees on university graduates, presiding at religious ceremonies and putting her signature to several important legislative acts.

Even the border patrol police, who acted as guides and also provided security for her on the trips, were very poorly paid, and received no per diem supplement for services rendered over and above normal duties.

The publication noted that Mom Sangwan Mahidol na Ayudhya, having married into the royal family, was entitled to an annual stipend of 200 baht, and that she donated it entirely to needy students.

[citation needed] Since 1964, when trips to remote areas to visit villagers and army personnel became a routine procedure, she noticed how people there were plagued by health problems.

The team was made up of doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and health officers, who volunteered their time on weekends to treat the ill, and offer consultative services to the public free of charge.

While her children were growing up as members of the royal family in the days of absolute monarchy, it would have been so easy for the princess mother to bring them up in a life of privilege, surrounded by attentive staff eager to follow orders.

Princess Galyani Vadhana described her upbringing as being very much in the vein of any normal family, where the children are taught to be respectful of grown-ups, to be responsible in their duties, and to expect punishment when they are naughty.

Princess Galyani Vadhana recounted a particular episode in Lausanne when Prince Ananda Mahidol, despite frequent warnings persisted in picking on a youngster who was the son of the caretaker.

As Princess Galyani Vadhana noted, "Queen Sri Savarindira did not get involved in the everyday routine of bringing up the children, but only gave advice on important matters.

[9]: 111 When the Princess Mother started making regular visits to villagers, officials, soldiers and police in the Thai border areas in 1966, the scene from her helicopter showed barren hillsides devoid of trees, with occasional shifting crops, weeds, and opium poppies.

The Princess Mother was also determined to improve the quality of life of the villagers, provide education and health services, means of a regular income, and an awareness of the need to preserve the environment.

At 1,000 meters elevation, with temperatures ranging between 17 and 24 degrees Celsius, its climate and the surrounding scenery were not unlike the cool, mountain setting of Villa Vadhana in Lausanne.

[12] Reflecting the Princess Mother's deep interest in astronomy, the ceiling in the reception hall is carved in the image of the solar system, with clusters of the different star signs.

Designed by the Astronomy Society of Thailand, light bulbs installed in the ceiling representing stars showed the position of the constellations on 21 October 1900, the day the Princess Mother was born.

As her body lay in state within the ancient and cavernous Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall, in the compound of the Grand Palace, mourners thronged to pay their last respects.

These included not only members of the royal family, diplomats, government officials, and those living within the confines of the capital city, but also hill tribe villagers from the far corners of the kingdom.

Crowds lined the street as the golden urn of rank was transported on the Royal Great Victory Carriage, or Phra Maha Pichai Ratcharot, in a solemn procession from the Grand Palace to the crematorium.

Her royal cremation ceremony was one of the biggest events Thailand has witnessed in modern times, attended by thousands of people and watched on television nationwide.

After the cremation, the king collected his mother's ashes to be interred near her husband Prince Mahidol Adulyadej in the Rangsi Vadhana Memorial, Royal Cemetery, Wat Ratchabophit.