Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk on Monday sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen thanking him for helping to put on an elaborate three-day ceremony dedicated to the interment of the ashes of her late husband, King Norodom Sihanouk, last week.
In her letter, the queen thanks the prime minister and other high-ranking government officials for their roles in last week’s festivities.
“[I] would like to thank and express my gratitude to [Mr. Hun Sen] for advising and preparing to hold the ceremony to march and hold up the ashes of the late king,” the queen wrote.
Over the course of the three days, thousands of monks gathered to pray for the late king, whose ashes were paraded through Phnom Penh before being interred in the Silver Pagoda on the grounds of the Royal Palace alongside those of his daughter, Kantha Bopha.