More than 1,400 snaps of Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn's mistress – many of them n.a.k.e.d or semi-n.a.k.e.d – have been sent to detractors of the Royal family.
The leak of the “very explicit” photos of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi – also known as Koi – is thought to be connected to a bitter rivalry between the King’s mistress and his wife.
The revelation of the saucy snaps, some of which show Koi naked or semi-n.a.k.e.d posing provocatively for the camera, comes after she rejoined the royal harem after being dramatically expelled and imprisoned last year.
The stunning army hospital nurse was given back her royal and military titles after she was previously accused of seeking to undermine the king's official wife and former consort, Queen Suthida.
The pictures – thought to have been taken by Sineenat herself – were sent to British journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall, who has written critical articles about the Thai monarchy, reported The Times.
“The photographs are clearly from Koi's personal phones,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“Most of the images are photographs she took of herself, and dozens of them are very explicit. It seems probable that she had taken these explicit photographs of herself to send to Vajiralongkorn.”
The 1,443 snaps were taken between 2012 and 2014 and include revealing shots of Koi topless and in skimpy nightwear.
The pictures were also sent to Thai academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun, who lives in Japan and who faces criminal prosecution in Thailand for his criticism of the monarchy.
The photos were delivered with a fake return address and a letter claiming they had been obtained by “pro-democracy Thai hackers”.
“However this is almost certainly untrue,” added Mr Marshall.
“Koi's return was bitterly opposed by palace factions supporting Queen Suthida and Princess Bajrakitiyabha and it is highly probable the images of Koi were leaked in an effort to sabotage her return as Vajiralongkorn's consort.”
Sineenat was handed the title of “chao khun phra”, meaning royal noble consort, during a ceremony to mark the king's 67th birthday last July.
It was the first time in nearly a century that a Thai monarch had taken a consort, after the 68-year-old king married his fourth wife Queen Suthida, 41, just three months earlier.
Sineenat also received four medals, including the "most noble order of the crown of Thailand" and the "most exalted order of the white elephant, special class".
But last October, less than three months after making Sineenat his royal consort, the king issued a command rescinding the appointment and sending her to prison.
The official statement accused his mistress of being “dishonourable, lacking gratitude [and of] disobedience against the king and the queen”.
In a bizarre twist at the end of August this year, the Thai Royal Gazette newspaper reported that not only was Sineenat back, but she had never done anything wrong and records should not show she had ever lost her privileges.
