King Norodom Sihamoni and his parents, retired King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath, arrived in Phnom Penh from Beijing Wednesday, welcomed by throngs of well-wishers.
Returning to Cambodia for the first time since he was named the country’s reigning monarch, a smiling King Sihamoni emerged from a China Airlines Airbus at Phnom Penh International Airport, followed closely by Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Monineath.
“I have received the great honor from the Cambodian people, who have allowed me to stay on the throne after my father,” King Sihamoni told reporters, after greeting a long line of diplomats and officials in the sweltering afternoon heat.
“I am very excited. I will try my best to serve the people,” he said.
King Sihamoni, who was elected his father’s successor last week, last visited Cambodia a year ago. He joined his father in Beijing last month from France, where he had been living for more than a decade.
Among those present to receive the royal family were Prime Minister Hun Sen, National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Senate President Chea Sim.
Asked about his health, Norodom Sihanouk said it’s “not so good, but I am very happy,” gesturing toward King Sihamoni.
The 81-year-old patriarch cited health problems earlier this month as one of the reasons he ceded the throne, paving the way for his son to take over.
“I have a lot of health problems. I have cancer, the doctors are still concerned,” Norodom Sihanouk told reporters Wednesday, adding that his physicians in China require him to take 80 pills a day.
Despite his ailments, he spent more than an hour walking unassisted across the airport tarmac from one well-wisher to the next.
Norodom Sihanouk left Cambodia for Beijing in late January, and for the past eight and one-half months has spent his time in Beijing receiving medical checks, as well as living in self-imposed exile in Pyongyang, North Korea.
During his absence, he has often criticized Cambodia’s leaders and the state of the country through statements posted on his Web site.
But no longer the reigning king, Norodom Sihanouk said he will stay out of the political arena.
“I don’t interfere with politics and the National Assembly, Senate, government, soldiers and police,” he said. “The Queen and I continue my actions to serve the poor people,” he added, noting that he would help provide canals for the poor.
He praised his successor, saying that King Sihamoni will ensure stability in the country.
Publicly addressing his son’s love life for the first time, Norodom Sihanouk said the 51-year-old King Sihamoni, a former ballet dancer and bachelor, will not likely be married, as he is “afraid of women.”
Prompted by a reporter’s question as to whether King Sihamoni would take a wife, the royal family appeared caught off guard.
“Wife?” Queen Monineath asked, flinching before she began to chuckle.
“He confines himself to Buddhism,” she said.
King Sihamoni stood silently, smiling as Norodom Sihanouk interjected, saying: “He loves women as his sisters.”
“He is afraid of women when he is in a serious relationship,” Norodom Sihanouk added.
Norodom Sihanouk said that his son’s status as a single male would not affect the continuation of the monarchy, since the monarch is chosen by the Royal Council of the Throne.
Outside the airport and lining the main streets leading up to the Royal Palace, tens of thousands of uniformed school children and onlookers gathered, armed with plastic neon-colored flowers, flags and cardboard portraits of the royal family.
“I came here because I wanted to see the new king. I’ve never seen him before,” said Son Somaly, 9, a student at Champou Wan high school. She had waited more than three hours to catch a glimpse as King Sihamoni’s motorcade drove by.
“My teacher asked me to come here to welcome the new king. But in my mind, I would have come anyway,” her schoolmate, Mat Theary, 14, said.
“I’ve only heard that the new king is out of the country a lot,” she said. “When he stays, then we can evaluate whether he is a good king or not.”
Waiting outside the airport, teacher Men Chenda said the occasion reminded her of then-Prince Sihanouk’s arrival in Phnom Penh in 1991, following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
“In [1991], people were very excited because we had war and we hadn’t had a king for a long time,” she said, adding that this time, the crowd seemed less jubilant.
Nonetheless, she said: “Maybe the new king will be better than the old king because he has experience living abroad and can help Cambodia.”
The coronation ceremony for King Sihamoni is scheduled for Oct 29.
(Additional reporting by Wency Leung)
