When it comes to wealth, extravagance and notoriety, few compare to Thailand‘s playboy king, Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Known formally as Rama X, the 73-year-old monarch is the wealthiest ruler in the world, with an estimated net worth of £52billion.
He has lived an extraordinarily wild, and at times outright bizarre, life that would put even history’s most debauched monarchs to shame.
But in recent months, the flamboyant royal has all but retreated from public life.
Rarely seen since the October death of his mother Sirikit, the once-spirited monarch appears to still be in mourning.
In November, just a few weeks after his mother passed away, a glum-looking Vajiralongkorn became the first ever Thai monarch to visit China as part of a state visit.
And on February 1, the king was seen performing religious rites to commemorate the 100th day since his mother’s passing. Photos of the event showed uniformed soldiers obediently bowing down to the dour-looking king and queen in a gaudy room that held a large portrait of the late Sirikit.
American Buddhist Net 