Duke Johann Albrecht and the King of Siam - a friendship over time and space

Anyone travelling to Thailand who is interested in culture and history will sooner or later come across the name "Chulalongkorn". The Thais greatly honour their Kings, and King Chulalongkorn, also known as Rama V, is often called "the Great". It was him who led Siam, as the country was then called, into the modern era with foresight and great innovations.

However, this book is not about high politics, but about life at the court of Siam at the turn of the century and the meeting of two gentlemen from two very different cultures who became good friends: 

King Chulalongkorn of Siam, regent from 1868 to 1910, and Duke Johann Albrecht from Mecklenburg,  regent in Braunschweig (hometown of the author)  from 1907 to 1913.

The reader can easily imagine what life might have been like at the Court of  a European Emperor at the time: Father, mother, children, but all very, very genteel. 

But at the Court of the Siamese Kingdom? A King with more than one wife?

Thanks to the photographic enthusiasm of some young ladies at Court and the King himself, we have a great many beautiful pictures showing daily life at the Siamese Court, so we do not have to rely on literature alone.  We will see a queen in trousers, peek into the royal kitchen and learn about fashion at the royal court around 1900.

The book has 4 chapters and begins with the diary of the Duke, covering his journey 1883 when he met the king for the first time.

Second and third chapter are about the visits of His Majesty the King in Schwerin 1897 and Braunschweig  1907 and the fourth and presumably the most interesting one is about the honeymoon trip of the Duke and his newlywed wife to Bangkok in the year 1910.