THE DEATH OF A KING
After four months of national mourning and seven days of funerals, Cambodians finally bade farewell—many in tears—to their beloved “King-Father,” Norodom Sihanouk.
Sihanouk died in Beijing on Oct. 15, 2012, at the age of 89, after suffering a heart attack.
The mourning period was marked by elaborate Buddhist rites and daily acts of remembrance across the country, culminating in a final week of ceremonies in Phnom Penh. The golden coffin carrying the embalmed body of the late king was paraded through the capital’s streets, lined with thousands of mourners paying their last respects, before a sumptuous cremation ceremony at a crematorium built near the Royal Palace. The rites drew senior members of the royal family, government officials, and numerous foreign dignitaries and heads of state, underscoring Sihanouk’s enduring role in Cambodia’s modern history and the deep affection many Cambodians still held for him.
