View source for Varananda Dhavaj

{{Short description|Thai prince (1922–1990)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{no footnotes|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image       = สิบตรีพระองค์เจ้าวรานนท์ธวัช.jpg
| caption     = Prince Varananda Dhavaj in 1943
| name        = {{ubl|Varananda Dhavaj|{{langn|th|วรานนท์ธวัช}}}}
| birth_name  = Varananda Dhavaj Chudadhuj
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=y|1922|8|19}} 
| birth_place = [[Bangkok]], [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Siam]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=y|1990|9|15|1922|8|19}} 
| death_place = Bangkok, Thailand
| spouse      = {{ubl|{{marriage|Pamela Smee|10 June 1950}}|{{marriage|[[Galyani Vadhana]]|24 September 1969}}|Kokeaw Prakaykavil na Chiengmai|Srisalai Suchatwut}}
| issue       = {{ubl|Dilok Nicholas Chudadhuj|Dara Jane Chudadhuj}}
| house       = {{c|Chudadhut family|Chudadhut}} ([[Chakri dynasty]])
| father      = [[Chudadhuj Dharadilok]]
| mother      = Ravi Kayananda
| religion    = [[Theravada Buddhism]]
|}}

'''Varananda Dhavaj''' ({{langx|th|พระวรวงศ์เธอ พระองค์เจ้าวรานนท์ธวัช}}; {{RTGS|''Waranonthawat''}}), born '''Varananda Dhavaj Chudadhuj''' ({{langx|th|วรานนท์ธวัช จุฑาธุช}}; {{RTGS|''Waranonthawat Chuthathut''}}; 19 August 1922 – 15 September 1990), was the son of Prince [[Chudadhuj Dharadilok]] and [[Mom (female title)|Mom]] [[Ravi Kayananda]] and grandson of King [[Chulalongkorn]] of Thailand. Although he was the only son of a senior [[Thailand|Thai]] prince, he was disqualified from succession to the throne because his mother was not Prince Chudadhut's formal wife.

Following the death of his father, the prince was raised by his uncle King [[Prajadhipok]]. He joined the monarch in virtual exile in England. He enlisted in the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] on February 24, 1942 under the name Nicky Varanand, was commissioned in 1943, and served as pilot in the [[Operation Overlord|Normandy campaign]] during [[World War II]]. He remained in the RAF, finally retiring as a [[flight lieutenant]] in 1960 to fly commercial aircraft for [[Thai Airways International]]. He later created his own airline, [[Air Siam]], which went bankrupt in 1977. In 1973, he also became an adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture.

==Marriage and family==
He married Mom Pamela Smee on June 10, 1950. Two children were born from this union:
* Mom Rajawongse Dilok Nicholas Chudadhuj (1953), Married with Jane Bishop and Chulalaxana Chudadhuj.
* Mom Rajawongse Dara Jane Chudadhuj (1956)

On September 24, 1969, he married his cousin, [[Galyani Vadhana|Princess Galyani Vadhana]], King [[Bhumibol]]'s eldest sister. He also had two concubines, Princess Kokeaw Prakaykavil na Chiengmai and Srisalai Suchatwut.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Prince Varananda Dhavaj of Thailand'''
|2= 2. [[Chudadhuj Dharadilok|Prince Chudadhuj Dharadilok, Prince of Phetchabun]]
|3= 3. Ravi Kayananda
|4= 4. [[Chulalongkorn|King Chulalongkorn, Rama V of Siam]]
|5= 5. [[Saovabha Phongsri|Princess Saovabha Phongsri of Siam]]
|6= 
|7= 
|8= 8. (=10.) [[Mongkut|King Mongkut, Rama IV of Siam]] 
|9= 9. [[Debsirindra|Princess Ramphoei Sirivongse]]
|10= 10. (=8.) [[Mongkut|King Mongkut, Rama IV of Siam]]
|11= 11. [[Piyamavadi|Piam Sucharitakul]]
}}

==References==
*{{DEFAULTSORT:Varananda Dhavaj}} 
[[Category:1922 births]] 
[[Category:1990 deaths]] 
[[Category:Thai male Phra Ong Chao]] 
[[Category:Chudadhut family]] 
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge]] 
[[Category:Non-British Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]] 
[[Category:Thai people of World War II]] 
[[Category:Thai expatriates in the United Kingdom]] 
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]] 
[[Category:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II]] 
[[Category:Royal Air Force airmen]] 
[[Category:Thai male Mom Chao]] 
[[Category:20th-century Chakri dynasty]] 
[[Category:Heirs presumptive]]
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026130908/http://geocities.com/thailandwwii/waranon.html |date=October 26, 2009 |title=HH Prince Waranonthawat }}
*[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~royalty/thailand/i47.html HH Prince Varananda Dhavaj] His friend, Prince Karawijakraphan, recorded that Prince Varananda flew a Spitfire plane to shoot down ten German tanks and supply trains, blowing them up. Prince Varananda flew a plane to shoot down German tanks, causing them to explode, and the German crew may have died from the explosion. (There is no confirmed report of Prince Varananda shooting down a German tank.)https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/163338

{{Thai princes}}
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