Norodom Sihanouk

Sihanouk in his coronation regalia, November 1941

Norodom Sihanouk was the only child born of the union between Norodom Suramarit and Sisowath Kossamak.[1] His parents, who heeded the Royal Court Astrologer's advice that he risked dying at a young age if he was raised under parental care, placed him under the care of Kossamak's grandmother, Pat. When Pat died, Kossamak brought Sihanouk to live with his paternal grandfather, Norodom Sutharot. Sutharot delegated parenting responsibilities to his daughter, Norodom Ket Kanyamom.[2] Sihanouk received his primary education at the François Baudoin school and Nuon Moniram school in Phnom Penh.[3] During this time, he received financial support from his maternal grandfather, Sisowath Monivong, to head an amateur performance troupe and soccer team.[1] In 1936, Sihanouk was sent to Saigon, where he pursued his secondary education at Lycée Chasseloup Laubat, a boarding school.[4]

When the reigning king Monivong died on 23 April 1941 the Governor-General of French Indochina, Jean Decoux, chose Sihanouk to succeed him.[5] Sihanouk's appointment as king was formalised the following day by the Cambodian Crown Council,[6] and his coronation ceremony took place on 3 May 1941.[7] During the Japanese occupation of Cambodia, he dedicated most of his time to sports, filming, and the occasional tour to the countryside.[8] In March 1945 the Japanese military, which had occupied Cambodia since August 1941, dissolved the nominal French colonial administration. Under pressure from the Japanese, Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's independence[9] and assumed the position of prime minister while serving as king at the same time.[10]

Pre-independence and self-rule

As prime minister, Sihanouk revoked a decree issued by the last resident superior of Cambodia, Georges Gautier, to romanise the Khmer alphabet.[11] Following the Surrender of Japan in August 1945, nationalist forces loyal to Son Ngoc Thanh launched a coup, which led to Thanh becoming prime minister.[12] When the French returned to Cambodia in October 1945, Thanh was dismissed and replaced by Sihanouk's uncle Sisowath Monireth.[13] Monireth negotiated for greater autonomy in managing Cambodia's internal affairs. A modus vivendi signed in January 1946 granted Cambodia autonomy within the French Union.[14] A joint French-Cambodian commission was set up after that to draft Cambodia's constitution,[15] and in April 1946 Sihanouk introduced clauses which provided for an elected parliament on the basis of universal male suffrage as well as press freedom.[16] The first constitution was signed into effect by Sihanouk in May 1947.[17] Around this time, Sihanouk made two trips to Saumur, France, where he attended military training at the Armoured Cavalry Branch Training School in 1946, and again in 1948. He was made a reserve captain in the French army.[18]

In early 1949, Sihanouk traveled to Paris with his parents to negotiate with the French government for more autonomy for Cambodia. The modus vivendi was replaced by a new Franco-Khmer treaty, which recognised Cambodia as "independent" within the French Union.[19] In practice, the treaty granted only limited self-rule to Cambodia. While Cambodia was given free rein in managing its foreign ministry and, to a lesser extent, its defence, most of the other ministries remained under French control.[20] Meanwhile, dissenting legislators from the national assembly attacked the government led by prime minister Penn Nouth over its failure to resolve deepening financial and corruption problems plaguing the country. The dissenting legislators, led by Yem Sambaur, who had defected from the Democrat party in November 1948,[21] deposed Penn Nouth.[22] Yem Sambaur replaced him, but his appointment did not sit well with the Democrats, who in turn pressured Sihanouk to dissolve the national assembly and hold elections.[23]

Sihanouk in 1946

Sihanouk, who by now had tired of the political squabbling, dissolved the assembly in September 1949,[24] but opted to rule by decree for the next two years before general elections were held, which the Democrats won.[25] In October 1951, Thanh returned to Cambodia and was received by 100,000 supporters, a spectacle which Sihanouk saw as an affront to his regal authority.[26] Thanh disappeared six months later, presumably to join the Khmer Issarak.[27] Sihanouk ordered the Democrat-led government to arrest Thanh but was ignored.[28] Subsequently, civil demonstrations against the monarchy and the French broke out in the countryside,[29] alarming Sihanouk, who began to suspect that the Democrats were complicit.[30] In June 1952 Sihanouk dismissed the Democrat nominee Huy Kanthoul and made himself prime minister. A few days later, Sihanouk privately confided in exasperation to the US chargé d'affaires, Thomas Gardiner Corcoran, that parliamentary democracy was unsuitable for Cambodia.[30]

In January 1953, Sihanouk re-appointed Penn Nouth as prime minister before leaving for France. Once there, Sihanouk wrote to French President Vincent Auriol requesting that he grant Cambodia full independence, citing widespread anti-French sentiment among the Cambodian populace.[31] Auriol deferred Sihanouk's request to the French Commissioner for Overseas Territories, Jean Letourneau, who promptly rejected it. Subsequently, Sihanouk traveled to Canada and the United States, where he gave radio interviews to present his case. He took advantage of the prevailing anti-communist sentiment in those countries, arguing that Cambodia faced a Communist threat similar to that of the Viet Minh in Vietnam, and that the solution was to grant full independence to Cambodia.[32] Sihanouk returned to Cambodia in June 1953, taking up residence in Siem Reap.[33] He organised public rallies calling for Cambodians to fight for independence, and formed a citizenry militia which attracted about 130,000 recruits.[34]

In August 1953, France agreed to cede control over judicial and interior affairs to Cambodia, and in October 1953 the defense ministry as well. At the end of October, Sihanouk went to Phnom Penh,[35] where he declared Cambodia's independence from France on 9 November 1953.[33] In May 1954, Sihanouk sent two of his cabinet ministers, Nhiek Tioulong and Tep Phan, to represent Cambodia at the Geneva Conference.[36] The agreements affirmed Cambodia's independence and allowed it to seek military aid from any country without restrictions. At the same time, Sihanouk's relations with the governing Democrat party remained strained, as they were wary of his growing political influence.[37] To counter Democrat opposition, Sihanouk held a national referendum to gauge public approval for his efforts to seek national independence.[38] While the results showed 99.8 percent approval, Australian historian Milton Osborne noted that open balloting was carried out and voters were cowed into casting an approval vote under police surveillance.[39]

In January 1970, Sihanouk left Cambodia for a two-month holiday in France, spending his time at a luxury resort in the French Riviera.[125] On 11 March 1970, a large protest took place outside the North Vietnamese and PRGSV embassies, as protesters demanded Viet Cong troops withdraw from Cambodia. The protests turned chaotic, as protesters looted both embassies and set them on fire, alarming Sihanouk.[126] Sihanouk, who was in Paris at the time, considered both returning to quell the protests and visiting Moscow, Beijing, and Hanoi. He opted for the latter, thinking that he could persuade its leaders to recall Viet Cong troops to their jungle sanctuaries, where they had originally established themselves between 1964 and 1969.[127] Five days later, Oum Mannorine, the half-brother of Sihanouk's wife Monique, was summoned to the National Assembly to answer corruption charges.[128] On that night after the hearing, Mannorine ordered troops under his command to arrest Lon Nol and Sirik Matak, but ended up getting arrested by Lon Nol's troops instead. On 18 March 1970 the National Assembly voted to depose Sihanouk,[129] allowing Lon Nol to assume emergency powers.[130]

Sihanouk (left) visiting Romania in 1972, with Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu

On that day, Sihanouk was in Moscow meeting Soviet foreign minister Alexei Kosygin, who broke the news as he was being driven to the Moscow airport.[131][132] From Moscow, Sihanouk flew to Beijing, where he was received by Zhou. Zhou arranged for the North Vietnamese Prime Minister, Pham Van Dong to fly to Beijing from Hanoi and meet with Sihanouk.[133] Zhou greeted Sihanouk very warmly, telling him that China still recognized as the legitimate leader of Cambodia and would pressing North Korea together with several Middle Eastern and African nations not to recognize Lon Nol's government, saying that once China issued its declaration of support "the Soviet Union will be embarrassed and will have to reconsider".[134] Both Zhou and Dong encouraged Sihanouk to rebel against Lon Nol and promised him military and financial support. On 23 March 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of his resistance movement, the National United Front of Kampuchea (FUNK). He encouraged the Cambodian populace to join him and fight against Lon Nol's government. Sihanouk was revered by the Khmer peasantry as a god-like figure, and his endorsement of the Khmer Rouge had immediate effects.[135] The royal family was so revered that Lon Nol after the coup went to the royal palace, knelt at the feet of the queen mother and begged her forgiveness for deposing her son.[136] Khmer Rouge soldiers broadcast Sihanouk's message in the Cambodian countryside, which roused demonstrations rooting for his cause that were brutally suppressed by Lon Nol's troops.[137] Sometime later, on 5 May 1970, Sihanouk announced the formation of a government-in-exile known as the Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea (GRUNK), leading Communist countries including China, North Vietnam, and North Korea to break relations with the Lon Nol regime.[138] In Phnom Penh, a military trial convened on 2 July 1970, whereby Sihanouk was charged with treason and corruption in his capacity as Head of State. After a three-day trial, the judges ruled Sihanouk guilty of both charges and sentenced to him death in absentia on 5 July 1970.[139]

Between 1970 and 1975, Sihanouk took up residence in state guesthouses at Beijing and Pyongyang, courtesy of the Chinese and North Korean governments, respectively.[140] In February 1973, Sihanouk traveled to Hanoi, where he started on a long journey with Khieu Samphan and other Khmer Rouge leaders. The convoy proceeded along the Ho Chi Minh trail and reached the Cambodian border at Stung Treng Province the following month. From there, they traveled across the provinces of Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, and Siem Reap. Throughout this entire leg of the journey, Sihanouk faced constant bombardment from American planes participating in Operation Freedom Deal.[141] At Siem Reap, Sihanouk visited the temples of Angkor Wat, Banteay Srei, and Bayon.[142] In August 1973, Sirik Matak wrote an open letter calling on Sihanouk to bring the Cambodian Civil War to an end and suggesting the possibility of his return to the country. When the letter reached Sihanouk, he angrily rejected Sirik Matak's entreaties.[143]

After the Khmer Republic fell to the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, a new regime under its charge, Democratic Kampuchea, was formed. Sihanouk was appointed as its Head of State, a ceremonial position.[144] In September 1975,[145] Sihanouk briefly returned to Cambodia to inter the ashes of his mother,[146] before going abroad again to lobby for diplomatic recognition of Democratic Kampuchea.[147] He returned on 31 December 1975 and presided over a meeting to endorse the constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.[148] In February 1976, Khieu Samphan took him on a tour across the Cambodian countryside. Sihanouk was shocked to see the use of forced labour and population displacement carried out by the Khmer Rouge government, known as the Angkar. Following the tour, Sihanouk decided to resign as the Head of State.[149] The Angkar initially rejected his resignation request, though they subsequently accepted it in mid-April 1976, retroactively backdating it to 2 April 1976.[150]

From this point onwards Sihanouk was kept under house arrest at the royal palace. In September 1978, he was removed to another apartment in Phnom Penh's suburbs, where he lived until the end of the year.[151] Throughout his confinement, Sihanouk made several unsuccessful requests to the Angkar to travel overseas.[152] Vietnam invaded Cambodia on 22 December 1978. On 1 January 1979, Sihanouk was taken from Phnom Penh to Sisophon, where he stayed for three days until 5 January, when he was taken back to Phnom Penh.[153] Sihanouk was taken to meet Pol Pot, who briefed him on the Angkar's plans to repulse Vietnamese troops.[154] On 6 January 1979, Sihanouk was allowed to fly to Beijing from Phnom Penh, where he was greeted by Zhou Enlai's successor, Deng Xiaoping.[155] The next day Phnom Penh fell to advancing Vietnamese troops on 7 January 1979. On 9 January 1979, Sihanouk flew from Beijing to New York to attend the UN Security Council, where he simultaneously condemned the Khmer Rouge for orchestrating the Cambodian genocide as well as the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia.[156] Sihanouk subsequently sought asylum in China after making two unsuccessful asylum applications with the US and France.[157]

Sihanouk (right) with his son, Norodom Ranariddh, on an ANS inspection tour during the 1980s

After the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, a new Cambodian government supported by Vietnam, the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), was established. The Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, was unhappy[158] with Vietnam's influence over the PRK government. Deng proposed to Sihanouk that he co-operate with the Khmer Rouge to overthrow the PRK government, but the latter rejected it,[159] as he opposed the genocidal policies pursued by the Khmer Rouge while they were in power.[158] In March 1981, Sihanouk established a resistance movement, FUNCINPEC which was complemented by a small resistance army known as Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste (ANS).[160] He appointed In Tam, who had briefly served as Prime Minister in the Khmer Republic, as the commander-in-chief of ANS.[161] The ANS needed military aid from China, and Deng seized the opportunity to sway Sihanouk into collaborating with the Khmer Rouge.[162] Sihanouk reluctantly agreed, and started talks in March 1981 with the Khmer Rouge and the Son Sann-led Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) on a unified anti-PRK resistance movement.[163]

After several rounds of negotiations mediated by Deng and Singapore's prime minister Lee Kuan Yew,[164] FUNCINPEC, KPNLF, and the Khmer Rouge agreed to form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) in June 1982. The CGDK was headed by Sihanouk, and functioned as a government-in-exile.[165] The UN defeated a resolution to expel Democratic Kampuchea and admit the PRK, effectively confirming Sihanouk as Cambodia's internationally recognized head of state.[166]

As CGDK chairperson, Sihanouk unsuccessfully negotiated, over the next five years, with the Chinese government to broker a political settlement to end the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia.[167] During this period, Sihanouk appointed two of his sons, Norodom Chakrapong and Norodom Ranariddh, to lead the ANS. Chakrapong was appointed as the deputy chief-of-staff for the ANS in March 1985,[168] while Ranariddh was minted to the twin positions of commander-in-chief and the chief-of-staff of the ANS in January 1986, replacing Tam.[169] In December 1987, the Prime Minister of the PRK government, Hun Sen, first met with Sihanouk to discuss ending the protracted Cambodian–Vietnamese War.[170] The following July, the then-foreign minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas, brokered the first round of meetings between the four warring Cambodian factions consisting of FUNCINPEC, Khmer Rouge, KPNLF, and the PRK government over the future of Cambodia. Two more rounds of meetings were held in February and May 1989; since all were held near Jakarta, they became known as the Jakarta Informal Meetings (JIM).[171]

In July 1989, Ali Alatas joined French foreign minister Roland Dumas in opening the Paris Peace Conference, where discussions took place regarding plans for Vietnamese troop withdrawal and power-sharing arrangements in a hypothetical future Cambodian government.[171] The following month, Sihanouk resigned as president of FUNCINPEC[172] but remained in the party as an ordinary member.[173] In September 1990, the United Nations (UN) sponsored the establishment of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia (SNC), an administrative body responsible for overseeing the sovereign affairs of Cambodia for an interim period until UN-sponsored elections were held.[174] The creation of the SNC was subsequently ratified with United Nations Security Council Resolution 668.[175] In July 1991 Sihanouk left FUNCINPEC altogether and was elected as the chairperson of the SNC.[176]

On 23 October 1991, Sihanouk led the FUNCINPEC, Khmer Rouge, KPNLF, and PRK into signing the Paris Peace Accords. The accords recognised the SNC as a "legitimate representative of Cambodian sovereignty" and created the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to serve as a transitional government between 1992 and 1993.[177] In turn, UNTAC was given the mandate to station peacekeeping troops in Cambodia to supervise the disarmament of troops from the four warring Cambodian factions and to carry out national elections by 1993.[178] Sihanouk subsequently returned to Phnom Penh on 14 November 1991. Together with Hun Sen, Sihanouk rode in an open top limousine from Pochentong Airport all the way to the royal palace, greeting city residents who lined the streets to welcome his return.[179] The UNTAC administration was set up in February 1992, but stumbled in its peacekeeping operations as the Khmer Rouge refused to cooperate in disarmament.[180] In response, Sihanouk urged UNTAC to abandon the Khmer Rouge from the peacekeeping process on two occasions, in July and September 1992. During this period, Sihanouk mostly resided in Siem Reap and occasionally traveled by helicopter to supervise election preparations in KPNLF, FUNCINPEC, and Khmer Rouge resistance bases.[181]

Sihanouk left in November 1992 to seek medical treatment in Beijing,[182] where he stayed for the next six months until his return to Cambodia in May 1993, on the eve of elections.[183] While in Beijing, Sihanouk proposed a Presidential system government for Cambodia to then-UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, but soon dropped the idea after facing opposition from the Khmer Rouge.[184] When general elections were held, FUNCINPEC, now headed by Sihanouk's son Norodom Ranariddh, won, while the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) headed by Hun Sen came in second.[185] The CPP was unhappy with the election results, and on 3 June 1993 Hun Sen and Chea Sim called on Sihanouk to lead the government. Sihanouk complied, and announced the formation of a Provisional National Government (PRG) headed by him, with Hun Sen and Ranariddh as his deputies.[186] Ranariddh was surprised at Sihanouk's announcement, as he had not been informed of his father's plans, and joined Australia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States in opposing the plan. The following day, Sihanouk rescinded his announcement through a national radio broadcast.[187]

On 14 June 1993, Sihanouk was reinstated as the head of state in a constituent assembly session presided over by Ranariddh, who took the opportunity to declare the 1970 coup d'état which overthrew Sihanouk as "illegal".[188] As Head of State, Sihanouk renamed the Cambodian military to its pre-1970 namesake, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. He also issued orders to officially rename the country from the State of Cambodia to simply "Cambodia", reinstating "Nokor Reach" as the National Anthem of Cambodia with some minor modifications to its lyrics, and the Cambodian flag to its pre-1970 design.[189] At the same time, Sihanouk appointed Ranariddh and Hun Sen co-prime ministers, with equal powers.[190] This arrangement, which was provisional, was ratified by the Constituent Assembly on 2 July 1993.[188] On 30 August 1993,[191] Ranariddh and Hun Sen met with Sihanouk and presented two draft constitutions, one of them stipulating a constitutional monarchy headed by a king, and another a republic led by a head of state. Sihanouk opted for the draft stipulating Cambodia a constitutional monarchy,[192] which was ratified by the constituent assembly on 21 September 1993.[193]

The new constitution came into force on 24 September 1993, and Sihanouk was reinstated as the King of Cambodia.[194] A permanent coalition government was formed between FUNCINPEC, CPP and a third political party, the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP). In turn, Sihanouk made Ranariddh and Hun Sen First and Second Prime Ministers, respectively.[195] Shortly after that, Sihanouk left for Beijing, where he spent several months for cancer treatment.[196] In April 1994, Sihanouk returned[197] and the following month called the government to hold new elections so that the Khmer Rouge could be co-opted into the government. Both Ranariddh and Hun Sen rejected his suggestion,[198][199] but Sihanouk pressed on, and further proposed a national unity government consisting of FUNCINPEC, CPP, and the Khmer Rouge headed by him.[200] Again, both prime ministers rejected Sihanouk's proposal, arguing that Khmer Rouge's past intransigent attitude made the proposal unrealistic.[201][202] Sihanouk backed down, and expressed frustration that Hun Sen and Ranariddh had been ignoring him. As both Norodom Sirivudh[203] and Julio Jeldres, his younger half-brother and official biographer, respectively, saw it, this was a clear sign that the monarchy's ability to exert control over national affairs had diminished, at least vis-a-vis the prime ministers.[204]

Sihanouk meeting with US ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn in March 1996 at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

In July 1994, one of his sons, Norodom Chakrapong, led a failed coup attempt to topple the government.[205] Following the coup attempt, Chakrapong took refuge in a hotel in Phnom Penh, but government troops soon discovered his hideout and surrounded the hotel. Chakrapong called Sihanouk, who negotiated with government representatives to allow him to go into exile in Malaysia.[206] The following November, Sirivudh was accused of plotting to assassinate Hun Sen and imprisoned. Sihanouk intervened to have Sirivudh detained at the interior ministry's headquarters, convinced that there was a secret plan to kill the latter if he were to remain in prison.[207] After Sirivudh was relocated to the safer location, Sihanouk appealed to Hun Sen that Sirivudh be allowed to go into exile in France together with his family. Subsequently, Hun Sen accepted his offer.[208]

Relations between the two co-prime ministers, Ranariddh and Hun Sen, deteriorated from March 1996,[209] when the former accused the CPP of repeatedly delaying the allocation process of low-level government posts to FUNCINPECs.[210] Ranariddh threatened to pull out of the coalition government[211] and hold national elections in the same year if his demands were not met,[212] stoking unease among Hun Sen and other CPP officials.[212] The following month, Sihanouk presided over a meeting between several royal family members and senior FUNCINPEC officials in Paris. Sihanouk attempted to reduce tensions between FUNCINPEC and the CPP by assuring that FUNCINPEC would not leave the coalition government and that there were no reactionary elements planning to bring down Hun Sen or the CPP.[213] In March 1997, Sihanouk expressed his willingness to abdicate the throne, claiming that rising anti-royalist sentiment among the populace was threatening the monarchy's existence.[214] In response, Hun Sen tersely warned Sihanouk that he would introduce constitutional amendments to prohibit members of the royal family from participating in politics if he followed through on his suggestion.[215] As Widyono saw it, Sihanouk remained popular with the Cambodian electorate, and Hun Sen feared that, should he abdicate and enter politics, he would win in any future elections, thereby undercutting CPP's political clout.[214]

In July 1997, violent clashes erupted in Phnom Penh between infantry forces separately allied to the CPP and FUNCINPEC, which effectively led to Ranariddh's ousting after FUNCINPEC forces were defeated.[216] Sihanouk voiced displeasure with Hun Sen for orchestrating the clashes, but refrained from calling Ranariddh's ouster a "coup d'état", a term which FUNCINPEC members used.[217] When the National Assembly elected Ung Huot as the First Prime Minister to replace Ranariddh on 6 August 1997,[218] Sihanouk charged that Ranariddh's ouster was illegal and renewed his offer to abdicate the throne, a plan which did not materialize.[219] In September 1998, Sihanouk meditated political talks in Siem Reap after the FUNCINPEC and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) staged protests against the CPP-led government for irregularities over the 1998 general elections. The talks broke down at the end of the month after Hun Sen narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, which he accused Sam Rainsy of masterminding.[220] Two months later, in November 1998, Sihanouk brokered a second round of political talks between the CPP and FUNCINPEC[221] whereby an agreement was reached for another coalition government between the CPP and FUNCINPEC.[220]

Sihanouk maintained a monthly bulletin in which he wrote commentaries on political issues and posted old photos of Cambodia in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1997 a character known by the name of "Ruom Rith" first appeared in his monthly bulletin, expressing critical comments on Hun Sen and the government. Hun Sen became offended by Ruom Rith's criticisms, and on at least two occasions in 1998 and 2003 persuaded Sihanouk to stop publishing his comments.[222][223] According to Ranariddh, Ruom Rith was an alter ego of Sihanouk, a claim which the latter vehemently denied.[224] In July 2002, Sihanouk expressed concern over the absence of detailed constitutional provisions over the organization and functioning of the Cambodian throne council.[225] When Hun Sen rejected Sihanouk's concern, the latter followed up in September 2002 by threatening to abdicate, so as to force the throne council to convene and elect a new monarch.[226]

In July 2003, general elections were held again, and the CPP won. However, they failed to secure two-thirds of all parliamentary seats, as required by the constitution to form a new government. The two runner-up parties of the election, FUNCINPEC and SRP, blocked the CPP from doing so.[227] Instead, in August 2003 they filed complaints with the Constitutional Council over alleged electoral irregularities.[228] After their complaints were rejected, FUNCINPEC and SRP threatened to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of parliamentarians. Sihanouk coaxed both parties to change their decision, stating that he would abstain from presiding over the ceremony as well if they did not comply with his wishes.[229] Both parties eventually backed off from their threats, and the swearing-in ceremony was held in October 2003, with Sihanouk in attendance.[230] The CPP, FUNCINPEC, and SRP held additional talks into 2004 to break the political stalemate, but to no avail. At the same time, Sihanouk proposed a unity government jointly led by politicians from all three political parties, which Hun Sen and Ranariddh both rebuffed.[231][232]

On 6 July 2004, in an open letter, Sihanouk announced his plans to abdicate once again. At the same time, he criticised Hun Sen and Ranariddh for ignoring his suggestions on how to resolve the political stalemate of the past year. Meanwhile, Hun Sen and Ranariddh had agreed to introduce a constitutional amendment that provided for an open voting system, requiring parliamentarians to select cabinet ministers and the president of the National Assembly by a show of hands. Sihanouk disapproved of the open voting system, calling upon Senate President Chea Sim not to sign the amendment. When Chea Sim heeded Sihanouk's advice, he was ferried out of the country shortly before the National Assembly convened to vote on the amendment on 15 July.[233] On 17 July 2004, the CPP and FUNCINPEC agreed to form a coalition government, leaving SRP out as an opposition party.[234] On 6 October 2004, Sihanouk wrote a letter calling for the throne council to convene and select a successor. The National Assembly and Senate both held emergency meetings to pass laws allowing for the abdication of the monarch. On 14 October 2004, the throne council unanimously voted to select Norodom Sihamoni as Sihanouk's successor.[235] Sihamoni was crowned as the King of Cambodia on 29 October 2004.[236]

In March 2005, Sihanouk accused Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam of encroaching into Cambodian territory, through unilateral border demarcation exercises without Cambodian participation. Two months later, Sihanouk formed the Supreme National Council on Border Affairs (SNCBA), which he headed, to address these concerns.[236] While the SRP and Chea Sim expressed support for Sihanouk for the formation of the SNCBA, Hun Sen decided to form a separate body, National Authority on Border Affairs (NABA), to deal with border concerns, with SNCBA to serve only as an advisory body.[237] After Hun Sen signed a border treaty with Vietnam in October 2005, Sihanouk dissolved the SNCBA.[238] In August 2007, the Cambodian Action Committee for Justice and Equity, a US-based human rights NGO, called for Sihanouk's State immunity to be lifted, so as to allow him to testify in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).[239] Sihanouk responded to the call by inviting the ECCC public affairs officer, Peter Foster, for a discussion session on his personal experience under the Khmer Rouge regime.[240] Both Hun Sen and FUNCINPEC criticized the suggestion, with the latter accusing the NGO of being disrespectful.[239] The ECCC subsequently rejected Sihanouk's invitation.[241]

The following year, bilateral relations between Thailand and Cambodia became strained due to overlapping claims on the land area surrounding Preah Vihear Temple. Sihanouk issued a communiqué in July 2008 emphasising the Khmer architecture of the temple as well as ICJ's 1962 ruling of the temple in favour of Cambodia.[242] In August 2009, Sihanouk stated that he would stop posting messages on his personal website as he was getting old, making it difficult for him to keep up with his personal duties.[243] Between 2009 and 2011, Sihanouk spent most of his time in Beijing for medical care. He made a final public appearance in Phnom Penh on his 89th birthday and 20th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords on 30 October 2011. Thereafter, Sihanouk expressed his intent to stay in Cambodia indefinitely,[244] but returned to Beijing in January 2012 for further medical treatment at the advice of his Chinese doctors.[245]

Norodom Sihanouk Memorial

In January 2012, Sihanouk issued a letter in which he expressed his wish that his body be cremated after his death, and his ashes be interred in a golden urn.[246] A few months later, in September 2012, Sihanouk said that he would not return to Cambodia from Beijing for his 90th birthday, citing fatigue.[247] On 15 October 2012, Sihanouk died of a heart attack at 1:20 am, Phnom Penh time.[248] When the news broke, Sihamoni, Hun Sen, and other government officials flew to Beijing to pay their last respects.[249] The Cambodian government announced an official mourning period of seven days between 17 and 24 October 2012, and state flags were ordered to fly at one-third height. Two days later, Sihanouk's body was brought back from Beijing on an Air China flight,[250] and about 1.2 million people lined the streets from the airport to the royal palace to witness the return of Sihanouk's cortège.[251]

In late November 2012, Hun Sen said that Sihanouk's funeral and cremation were to be carried out in February 2013. Sihanouk's body lay in state at the royal palace for[252] the next three months until the funeral was held on 1 February 2013.[253] A 6,000-metre (20,000 ft) street procession was held, and Sihanouk's body was subsequently kept at the royal crematorium until 4 February 2013 when his body was cremated.[254] The following day, the royal family scattered some of Sihanouk's ashes into the Tonle Sap river, while the rest were kept in the palace's throne hall for about a year.[255] In October 2013, a stupa featuring a bronze statue of Sihanouk was inaugurated next to the Independence Monument.[256] In July 2014, Sihanouk's ashes were interred at the silver pagoda next to those of one of his daughters, Kantha Bopha.[257]

Styles of King Norodom Sihanouk
Reference style	His Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Sir

Sihanouk was known by many formal and informal titles throughout his lifetime,[279] and the Guinness Book of World Records identifies Sihanouk as the royal who had served the greatest variety of state and political offices.[280] When Sihanouk became king in 1941, he was bestowed with the official title of "Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Varman" (ព្រះបាទសម្តេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ វរ្ម័ន), which he used for both reigns between 1941 and 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004.[7] He reverted to the title of Prince after he abdicated 1955, and in that year was given by his father and successor the title of "Samdech Preah Upayuvareach" (សម្តេចព្រះឧបយុវរាជ),[33] which translates in English as "The Prince who has been King".[281] Starting from the early 1960s when he became the Head of State,[282] Sihanouk was affectionately known to most Cambodians as "Samdech Euv" (សម្តេចឪ),[283] which translates as the "Prince Father" in English.[280]

In 2004, after his second abdication, Sihanouk became known as the King Father of Cambodia,[284] with the official title of "Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdach Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preahmâhaviraksat" (Khmer: ព្រះករុណាព្រះបាទសម្តេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះមហាវីរក្សត្រ).[280] He was also referred to by another honorific, "His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk The Great Heroic King King-Father of Khmer independence, territorial integrity and national unity" (ព្រះករុណា ព្រះបាទសម្ដេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះមហាវីរក្សត្រ ព្រះវររាជបិតាឯករាជ្យ បូរណភាពទឹកដី និងឯកភាពជាតិខ្មែរ).[285] At the same time, he issued a royal decree requesting to be called "Samdech Ta" (សម្ដេចតា) or "Samdech Ta-tuot" (សម្ដេចតាទួត),[286] which translates as "Grandfather" and "Great-grandfather", respectively, in English.[287] When Sihanouk died in October 2012, he was bestowed by his son Sihamoni with the posthumous title of "Preah Karuna Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preah Borom Ratanakkot" (ព្រះករុណាព្រះនរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ), which literally translates as "The King who lies in the Diamond Urn" in English.[288]

Sihanouk's name is derived from two Sanskrit words "Siha" (सिंह) and "Hanu" (हनु), which translates as "Lion" and "Jaws", respectively, in English.[289][290] He was fluent in Khmer, French, and English,[291] and also learned Greek and Latin in high school.[292] In his high school days, Sihanouk played football, basketball, volleyball, and also took up horse riding.[1] He suffered from diabetes and depression in the 1960s,[293] which flared up again in the late 1970s while living in captivity under the Khmer Rouge.[294] In November 1992, Sihanouk suffered a stroke[295] caused by the thickening of the coronary arteries and blood vessels.[296] In 1993, he was diagnosed with B cell lymphoma in the prostate[297] and was treated with chemotherapy and surgery.[298] Sihanouk's lymphoma went into remission in 1995,[299] but returned again in 2005 in the gastric region. He suffered a third bout of lymphoma in 2008,[297] and after prolonged treatment it went into remission the following year.[300]

In 1960, Sihanouk built a personal residence at Chamkarmon District where he lived over the next ten years as the Head of State.[301] Following his overthrow in 1970, Sihanouk took up residence in Beijing, where he lived at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the first year of his stay. In 1971, Sihanouk moved to a larger residence in the city that once housed the French embassy.[302] The residence was equipped with a temperature-adjustable swimming pool,[140] cinema[303] and seven chefs.[304] In 1974 North Korean leader Kim Il-sung built Changsuwon, a 40-room mansion, for Sihanouk.[305] Changsuwon was built near an artificial lake, and Sihanouk spent time taking boat trips there and also shot a few films within the compound.[306] In August 2008, Sihanouk declared his assets on his website, which according to him consisted of a small house in Siem Reap and 30,000 Euros of cash savings stored in a French bank. He also stated that his residences in Beijing and Pyongyang were guesthouses owned by the governments of China and North Korea, respectively, and that they did not belong to him.[307]

Family

Sihanouk's spouse, Norodom Monineath, and their son Norodom Sihamoni photographed at Sihanouk's funeral. To the extreme left is Sihanouk's half-brother, Norodom Sirivudh.

In April 1952 Sihanouk married Paule Monique Izzi, who was the daughter of Pomme Peang, a Cambodian, and Jean-François Izzi, a French banker of Italian ancestry.[308] Monique became Sihanouk's lifelong partner;[123] in the 1990s she changed her name to Monineath.[309] Before his marriage to Monique, Sihanouk married five other women: Phat Kanhol, Sisowath Pongsanmoni, Sisowath Monikessan, Mam Manivan Phanivong, and Thavet Norleak.[310] Monikessan died in childbirth in 1946; his marriages to the other four women all ended in divorce.[311] Sihanouk had fourteen children with five different wives. Thavet Norleak bore him no children.[312] During the Khmer Rouge years, five children and fourteen grandchildren disappeared; Sihanouk believed they were killed by the Khmer Rouge.[313][314]

Sihanouk had the following issue:

Name	Year of birth	Year of death	Mother	Cause of death
Norodom Buppha Devi	1943	2019	Phat Kanhol
Norodom Yuvaneath	1943		Sisowath Pongsanmoni
Norodom Ranariddh	1944		Phat Kanhol
Norodom Ravivong	1944	1973	Sisowath Pongsanmoni	Malaria[315]
Norodom Chakrapong	1945		Sisowath Pongsanmoni
Norodom Naradipo	1946	1976	Sisowath Monikessan	Disappeared under Khmer Rouge[316]
Norodom Sorya Roeungsi	1947	1976	Sisowath Pongsanmoni	Disappeared under Khmer Rouge[316]
Norodom Kantha Bopha	1948	1952	Sisowath Pongsanmoni	Leukemia[315]
Norodom Khemanourak	1949	1975	Sisowath Pongsanmoni	Disappeared under Khmer Rouge[317]
Norodom Botum Bopha	1951	1975	Sisowath Pongsanmoni	Disappeared under Khmer Rouge[317]
Norodom Sujata	1953	1975	Mam Manivan	Disappeared under Khmer Rouge[317]
Norodom Sihamoni	1953		Monique Izzi (Monineath)
Norodom Narindrapong	1954	2003	Monique Izzi (Monineath)	Heart attack[318]
Norodom Arunrasmy	1955		Mam Manivan