• Cambodians throng to revered king's cremation

    Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP - Getty Images

    Cambodian royal family members travel on a royal boat as they drop ashes of former king Norodom Sihanouk in the Mekong river in Phnom Penh on Feb. 5, 2013 following his cremation on Feb. 4.

    Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP - Getty Images

    The ashes of Cambodia's former king were scattered in the Mekong river on Tuesday, bringing to a close months of mourning for the revered monarch who died on October 15 last year. Reuters reports:

    Tens of thousands of Cambodians gathered on Monday to pay their last respects to former King Norodom Sihanouk, a quixotic and much-loved figure who reigned during the country's struggle for independence but was powerless to prevent decades of war.

    The current King Norodom Sihamoni and Sihanouk's widow, Queen Monineath, wept during the cremation as Cambodians poured into the capital to mourn the "king father," as Sihanouk is known.

    "This is the most sorrowful moment," said Pal Ho, 58, a villager from the western province of Pursat, who carried with her six pictures of Sihanouk. Read the full story.

    See more images from the past four months of mourning for King Sihanouk.

    Nicolas Asfouri / AFP - Getty Images

    Fireworks are lit at the crematorium to mark the beginning of the cremation of Norodom Sihanouk, near the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh on Febr. 4, 2013.

    David Guttenfelder / AP

    Mourners cry and pray as the late king is cremated, in Phnom Penh on Feb. 4, 2013.

    Nicolas Asfouri / AFP - Getty Images

    Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni (2nd right) and Queen Monique (3rd right) pay their last respects inside the crematorium minutes before the late king's cremation on Feb. 4, 2013.

    Wong Maye-E / AP

    A young boy walks past a puddle with a reflection of a portrait of King Norodom Sihanouk in Phnom Penh on Feb. 4, 2013.

     

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  • Cambodians mourn their former king

    Damir Sagolj / Reuters

    Mourners take pictures of a large portrait of the late former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk that was placed in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh Oct.16.

    Samrang Pring / Reuters

    Mourners gather to pay respects to the late former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh Oct. 16.

    Wong Maye-e / AP

    People mourn the death of former King Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Oct. 16.

    Cambodia’s former king, Norodom Sihanouk, who freed the country from colonialism before becoming a tragic pawn through decades of turmoil, died on Monday in a Beijing hospital at the age of 89.  Officials expect at least 100,000 people to line the route on Wednesday from the Phnom Penh airport to the Royal Palace where his body will lay in state during a week of official mourning.