This Monday, June 18th, the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk, is a national holiday in Cambodia. Another occasion to celebrate for all inhabitants and visitors of the kingdom and, for the Voyage Seripheap editorial team, an opportunity to revisit the extraordinary destiny of she who, known as Norodom Monineath, is often affectionately nicknamed Queen Monique.

Birth and meeting with Sihanouk

Paule-Monique Izzi was born in Saigon, Cochinchina, on June 18, 1936, at a time when her father, Jean-François Izzi, of Corsican origin, was the director of the Crédit foncier de l'Indochine. After World War II and the death of her husband, Pomme Peang, Monique's mother returned to live in Phnom Penh, her native city, in order to enroll her daughter at the Lycée René Descartes. The story takes on the appearance of a fairy tale when, in 1951, the beautiful young woman wins a beauty contest. She is then presented to King Norodom Sihanouk for the presentation of her prize. The monarch, though already married several times, seems immediately captivated since, renouncing polygamy, he chooses to commit, the very next year, and in a private manner, to a first union with the young woman. In 1953, while her husband is engaged in a crusade for the independence of the country, Monique gives birth to Prince Norodom Sihamoni, the current King of Cambodia. The independence of Cambodia is officially proclaimed on November 9, 1953. A second son, Prince Norodom Narindrapong, arrives the following year to complete the royal lineage. Then a second marriage is celebrated in 1955, in a more official manner, to seal the union of Monique to Norodom Sihanouk, still at the head of the State, but having become prince again after his abdication in favor of his father, on March 3 of that same year 1955.

Under the Khmer Rouge

Often described as a privileged adviser to Sihanouk, Princess Monique is also, from 1967 to 1970, the president of the Cambodian Red Cross. In 1970, she joins her spouse, exiled in China following the Cambodian coup d'État. She becomes her husband's most faithful support and accompanies him on his return to Phnom Penh, in April 1975, when he is appointed head of State by the Khmer Rouge. From 1976 onwards, many members of the royal household are executed but the couple, placed under house arrest (probably to undergo a program of political re-education), escape death contrary to Pol Pot's wishes. In January 1979, Norodom Sihanouk and his wife are evacuated by the Chinese and do not return to the Cambodian capital until about a dozen years later, in November 1991, amid the cheers of an immense crowd, gathered along the entire route between the airport and the royal palace.

The Queen becomes Queen Mother

On September 24, 1993, the Constitution of Cambodia as a constitutional monarchy is promulgated, Norodom Sihanouk becomes King again and elevates his wife to the rank of Samdech Preah Mohesey Norodom Monineath of Cambodia. After unsuccessful attempts that would have aimed to amend the constitution so that his wife could continue her reign as regent, the King chooses, in 2004, to abdicate in favor of his son. Widowed since October 15, 2012, Her Majesty Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk remains Honorary President of the Cambodian Red Cross and still appears frequently, alongside her son, His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia.