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Supreme Council was proclaimed by the means of a speech to the Privy Councillors. | ||
| I will now explain the reasons for creating this Council in such a hurry. As you know, the late King was beginning to loose the confidence of the people towards the end of the Reign and the question of Succession caused great anxieties. The only High Prince with any reputation was Prince Paribatra and many people would have liked the succession to go to him, while it was well known that the King was expecting to have a child, and should he not have a boy the succession would go to his brothers whom, I am sorry to say, the majority of people did not think much of. For myself, I was a dark horse and in any case inexperienced in affairs of state. Very fortunately for me, on the death of my brother Asdang, I had several occasions to act for the King during his absence from the Capital and during his illness. I was fortunate enough to have been able to gain the confidence of the Ministers and High Princes, so that my candidature to the Throne had the approval of those persons. I also had the best support from Prince Paribatra. On my succession to Throne it was thought absolutely necessary to do something at once to gain the confidence of the people, hence the creation of the Supreme Council. This had its immediate effect and I really gained the confidence of the people in one day. The reason why this action had such an immediate result was that it promised many desirable things. | ||
| Firstly, that the Royal Family is getting together and will work in harmony. | ||
| Secondly, that the King was willing to seek the advice of highly respected Princes who have had experience of State affairs and who have the confidence of the people, none of the HATED official class⟨es⟩ being included in this Council. | ||
| Thirdly, that the King’s power to take arbitrary actions would be lessened by this Council (remember that in the present state of opinions in the country, the King is thought to be more liable to do more harm than good). | ||
| Therefore the immediate result of the creation of the Supreme Council had been very good and I think that it has served its purpose very well and that my action was well justified. Since then, people have had time to reflect a little and the Supreme |
