A long-lost, "syndicalist" Prince! - Cambodia's NORODOM EkCHARIN At 50 (15/04/2019)

King Norodom Sihamoni (left) with his mother (Queen Mother) Norodom Monineath (82), celebrating his 66th birthday

Past week the King of Cambodia had lavish celebrations for his 66th birthday. But let's take a deeper look to another member of the House of Norodom, who recently had his 50th birthday, but was of course, not mentioned the same way like his Sovereign half-uncle!

Ekcharin (right) with his father Yuvaneath (ca 2010s)

He is Prince Norodom Veakcharin, younger son of HRH Prince Norodom Yuvaneath & grandson of the late statesman-King Sihanouk.

Norodom Ekcharin was born on 15 April 1969 in (capital) Phnom Penh, the second child (& son) of Prince Yuvaneath and his second wife, Tea Kim Yin. His father, a polyglot & former Scout, was the elder son of then royal Head of State & once was influential in governmental affairs. 

His family initially lived at the palace.

Norodom Sihanouk (1922-2012) as royal Head-of-State

Although months after Ekcharin's birth, his parents & brother went for a short mission in Hong Kong, leaving him with his grandparents. Shortly afterwards, General Lon Nol led a military coup, deposing Prince Sihanouk as Head of state.

Yuvaneath's family fled for Beijing & then (1980) to the US. Those Royal family members who remained in Cambodia, passed through the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79) with some of them being murdered. Ekcharin's family also assumed he was killed in 1976.

Seal of Democratic Kampuchea, during Khmer Rouge' regime

However, he was fortunate enough to survive. While in the years 1975-79 many of his royal relatives were captured & killed by the regime, Ekcharin was brought to a hideout closs to the Thai border. 

From there he safely reached Sweden, where he grew up in Stockholm, without any connection with his birth family.

Norodom Yuvaneath in February 2013

The only thing Ekcharin remembered is that his origin was from the Cambodian Royal family. In the meantime, Cambodia faced a decade of war with Vietnam, the collapse of its government & its replacement by another, softer one. Monarchy was restored in 1993.

Norodom Sihanouk was reinstated to state leadership, becoming King of Cambodia for the second time. Prince Yuvaneath returned as well to assume prestigeous positions in the Privy (Royal) Council.

Royal Coat-of-Arms of Cambodia

In the meantime, (V)EakCharin led a private life in Sweden. As years passed, his desire to discover his birth-family increased.

Ekcharin (left) with one of his sisters (after reuniting)

So after some searching of his roots he came to contact with one of his younger sisters, and then with the rest of his family, in USA!

His family quickly recognised him & with the help of a CHilean royal biographer, re-established his connections with the House of Norodom, with the Royal Court of Cambodia naming him a Prince again.

Cambodia's Royal Standard

Norodom Ekcharin remained in Sweden for some time, where he developed a sorta syndicalist profil, complaining about the lower income of Cambodian employers at H&M multinational clothing-retail giant company comparative to workers of other ethnicities.

The Prince tried to sensitize public view about the hard working conditions many Cambodians face in the Swedish TV4 documentary series, called "Kalla Fakta" (= cold facts).

Eventually Prince Ekcharin returned to his birth country in 2013. He was reunited with his family a year later, on their visit to the country.

At Yuvaneath's 75th Birthday' celebrations, last October (2018)

 Ever since then he is thought to spend enough time in Cambodia, ocassionally attending royal events by his own, or along his family.

His father, Norodom Yuvaneath, turned 75 years old last October.

Further links of information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Ekcharin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Yuvaneath
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-life-arts-culture/updated-edition-provides-insight-lives-and-lineage-cambodias-royals
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/swedish-outcry-has-royal-voice-midst
https://karljohanrahm.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/hm-duckar-for-kambodjansk-prins/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Norodom