Soe Win (prince)

Maha Chandra Kumara Soe Win (Burmese: စိုးဝင်း; born 15 January 1947) is a retired Burmese diplomat, prince and senior male member of the Royal House of Konbaung as the Pretender to the Throne of Burma (abolished in 1885).[1] He is the eldest son of Prince Taw Phaya Gyi and great-grandson of King Thibaw and Chief Queen Supayalat.[2][3]

Maha Chandra Kumara

Soe Win
စိုးဝင်း
Soe Win in 2018
Born (1947-01-15) 15 January 1947
Rangoon, Burma
NationalityBurmese
Alma materRangoon University
Known forPretender to the Throne of Burma
Spouse(s)Tin Lay Wai
Parent(s)Taw Phaya Gyi
Khin Kyi
Relatives

Early life

Soe Win was born on 15 January 1947 in Rangoon, Burma. He is the eldest son of Prince Taw Phaya Gyi and his first wife, Khin Kyi. He graduated from Rangoon University.

Career

Soe Win worked to promote a positive image of Myanmar overseas, even during the darkest periods of military rule. He joined the Burmese Foreign Service, becoming First Secretary Washington DC from 1987 to 1991. He served as Ambassador Extr & Plen to Japan in 1999, Pakistan from 1999 to 2003, Australia from 2003 to 2005 and also served in Hong Kong and China, before retiring in 2009. Later, he joined the Myanmar Football Association to coach the national team in their unsuccessful bid to win the World Cup in New Zealand in 2015. He once managed Myanmar national under-19 football team and was head of the International department of Myanmar Football Federation.[4][2]

He served as a Deputy director-general of Protocol from 2006 to 2008 and also Vice-chairman of the Myanmar-China Friendship Association.[5][6]

Documentary film

In 2017, Soe Win and his uncle Taw Phaya, aunt Hteik Su Phaya Gyi, cousin Devi Thant Sin appeared as the main characters of We Were Kings, a documentary film by Alex Bescoby and Max Jones. The film premiered in Mandalay on 4 November 2017 at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival and also screened in Thailand at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.[7] The film is about Myanmar's history, but also about the descendants of the last kings of Burma who lived unassuming lives in modern Myanmar, unrecognized and unknown.[8][2]

Mission to search for missing royal gems

King Thibaw was sent into exile by the British in 1885. He gave the Burmese Crown Jewels, including a giant ruby, to colonel Edward Bosc Sladen for safekeeping but they were never returned. His descendant believes that recovering the long lost royal treasure would restore pride in his nation. Soe Win has been investigating the royal ruby’s disappearance with Alex Bescoby, a filmmaker and historian.

On 3 November 2017, he arrived in London in a bid to find the precious giant royal ruby "Nga Mauk" which is said to be the size of a duck egg that was reportedly stolen by a British colonel over 130 years ago. That giant ruby alleged to have been stolen from the Burmese royal family by a British officer Edward Bosc Sladen who took it back to England. He believes that the Nga Mauk ruby was subsequently used by the British royal family in its crown jewels.[9][10]

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References
  1. Asaree Thaitrakulpanich (10 March 2017). "GREAT-GRANDSON OF LAST BURMESE KING WANTS THAI SOAP CANCELED". Khaosod English.
  2. Lekha Shankar (4 March 2018). "Diplomatically Speaking With U Soe Win". Thailand Tatler.
  3. "Burmese royal descendant on mission to discover fate of missing ruby". The Times. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. Lekha Shankar (20 February 2018). "A Myanmar royal is trying hard to restore his country's heritage". The Asian Age.
  5. "Burmese royal travels to Britain to take 'stolen' ruby from Tower of London". Daily Express. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  6. "Burmese royal arrives in London to demand return of lost ruby 'hidden in the Tower of London'". The Daily Telegraph. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. Jim Pollard (10 February 2018). "The right to remember Myanmar's last king". Asia Times.
  8. Zuzakar Kalaung (2 November 2017). "We Were Kings: Burma's lost royal family". The Myanmar Times.
  9. "After 130 years of obscurity, Myanmar's forgotten royals make a comeback". The Guardian. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  10. "Who stole royal ruby?". BBC News. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
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