• 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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  • Mourners flock to Cambodian Royal Palace to pay final respects to fallen king

    Wong Maye-E / AP

    A woman sits in prayer while her head is shaved to mourn the late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk ahead of his funeral, Jan. 31, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

    Wong Maye-E / AP

    Mourners gather in front of the Royal Palace and pay their respects to the late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk ahead of his funeral on Jan. 31, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

    Chris McGrath / Getty Images

    Crowds gather in front of the Royal Palace to pay their respects to former King Norodom Sihanouk on Jan. 31, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

    Chris McGrath / Getty Images

    A street vendor sells ribbons showing a portrait of former King Norodom Sihanouk outside the Royal Palace on Jan, 31, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

    Former King Norodom Sihanouk died of a heart attack last October in Beijing at the age of 89. For the past three months his body has been lying in state at the Royal Palace. Officials expect more than one million people to line the streets tomorrow to witness the funeral procession. The former king's body will be transported to a cremation site where it will be kept for three days before his wife and son are expected to light the pyre. 

    -- Getty Images

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    Chris McGrath / Getty Images

    A young boy runs through a group of pigeons in front of the Royal Palace on Jan. 31, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

  • Mak Remissa / EPA

    Vigil for a former king

    Mourners pray for former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Oct. 22. Sihanouk, once an absolute ruler who freed Cambodia from colonialism before becoming a tragic pawn through decades of turmoil, died on Oct. 15 in a Beijing hospital. He was 89. His body will lie in state for the next three months before a traditional cremation ceremony is held.

    Earlier stories on PhotoBlog:


  • Cambodians flock to palace to pay tribute to former king Sihanouk

    Wong Maye-e / AP

    A elderly woman mourns the death of former king Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Oct. 18.

    Cambodians gathered to pray at the Royal Palace on Thursday, the day after the body of their former king Norodom Sihanouk was returned to the palace. It will lie in state for the next three months before a traditional cremation ceremony is held. The former king, a revered figure who ruled through the triumph of independence to the tragedy of Cambodia's brutal civil war, died of a heart attack in Beijing on Monday at the age of 89. 

    Wong Maye-e / AP

    Candles are reflected on a portrait of Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace on Oct. 18.

    Wong Maye-e / AP

    A man mourns former king Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace.

    Stephen Morrison / EPA

    A young woman holds incense sticks while praying.

    Chris Mcgrath / Getty Images

    A portrait of former king Norodom Sihanouk hangs at the entrance to the Royal Palace.

    Earlier on PhotoBlog:
    Cambodia mourns as ex-king's body comes home

     

  • Cambodia mourns as ex-king's body comes home

    Samrang Pring / Reuters

    A Buddhist monk and a woman with a portrait of the late Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk in Phnom Penh on October 17, 2012.

    Wong Maye-E / AP

    People gather at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh to mourn their former king, whose body of Sihanouk returned to his homeland on a plane from China on Wednesday.

     

    Damir Sagolj / Reuters

    A mourner cries as the king's coffin arrives at the Royal Palace.

    Reuters reports — Tens of thousands poured into Cambodia's capital to witness the procession on Wednesday of the body of former king Norodom Sihanouk, a revered figure who ruled through the triumph of independence to the tragedy of its brutal civil war.

    Mourners dressed in white lined the 6-mile route to welcome the return of Sihanouk, who died of heart failure on Monday in Beijing.

    "I feel very sorry, I want to see him one last time," said Mon Met, 48, who waited at the Royal Palace for his body to arrive.

    "I only remember him as the person that brought happiness to the country. Now I feel scared of what happens next." Read the full story.

    Heng Sinith / AP

    The casket containing the body of King Norodom Sihanouk is carried on a float shaped like a phoenix in the procession through Phnom Penh.

    Samrang Pring / Reuters

    Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk greet people during the arrival of former king Norodom Sihanouk's coffin at Phnom Penh international airport.

    Chris McGrath / Getty Images

    People light candles and pray to honur former King Norodom Sihanouk in front of the Royal Palace.

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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.