Norodom Ekcharin
{{notability|1=Biographies|date=September 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Norodom Ekcharin
| title = Prince of Cambodia
| image = Ekcharin Norodom little boy.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1969|04|15|df=n}}
| birth_place = Phnom Penh, Cambodia
| death_date = 1976 (presumptive)
| death_place = Cambodia
| house = Norodom
| father = Norodom Yuvaneath
| mother = Tea Kim Yin
}}
Prince Norodom Ekcharin (born 1969) is the second son of Prince Norodom Yuvaneath and the grandchild of the late King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk. It is believed that Prince Norodom Ekcharin died as a child during a massacre by the Khmer Rouge in 1976. He is known for having an imposter who, at one point, was accepted into the royal family.{{cite web | title=El enigma del príncipe camboyano que "reapareció" tras dársele por muerto | trans-title=The enigma of the Cambodian prince who "reappeared" after being presumed dead | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-02-03 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/camboya-monarqu%C3%ADa_el-enigma-del-pr%C3%ADncipe-camboyano-que--reapareci%C3%B3--tras-d%C3%A1rsele-por-muerto/48255986 | language=es | access-date=2023-09-16 | archive-date=6 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306042531/https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/camboya-monarqu%C3%ADa_el-enigma-del-pr%C3%ADncipe-camboyano-que--reapareci%C3%B3--tras-d%C3%A1rsele-por-muerto/48255986 | url-status=live }}
Life and family separation
Norodom Ekcharin was born in 1969 to parents Prince Norodom Yuvaneath and his wife Tea Kim Yin in Phnom Penh. Following the 1970 coup by General Lon Nol that ended the monarchy,{{cite news | last=Branigin | first=William | title=Norodom Sihanouk dies at 89; former king led Cambodia through decades of strife | newspaper=Washington Post | date=2017-08-15 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/norodom-sihanouk-dies-at-89-former-cambodian-king-led-country-through-decades-of-strife/2012/10/14/95dd23fa-d616-11df-8694-5a653f4d5a7a_story.html | access-date=2023-09-17 | archive-date=13 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213140653/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/norodom-sihanouk-dies-at-89-former-cambodian-king-led-country-through-decades-of-strife/2012/10/14/95dd23fa-d616-11df-8694-5a653f4d5a7a_story.html | url-status=live }} Yuveneath and his wife were not permitted to re-enter the country as they had been visiting Singapore, leaving Ekcharin behind in Cambodia.{{cite web | title=Prince Norodom Yuvaneath succumbs to illness | website=Khmer Times - Insight into Cambodia | date=2021-01-15 | url=https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50804135/prince-norodom-yuvaneath-succumbs-to-illness/ | access-date=2023-09-17 | archive-date=5 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005030454/https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50804135/prince-norodom-yuvaneath-succumbs-to-illness/ | url-status=live }} Yuvaneath and his family fled to Beijing, where they lived until 1975. In 1975, he and the family immigrated to Hong Kong, and in 1980, to the United States.
When the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh in 1976, Ekcharin was presumed to have been killed, though his body, like that of thousands of Cambodians, was not found.
Imposter
A resident of Sweden named Charin Norodom appeared in the early 2010s and claimed to have survived the massacre and to have been secretly smuggled to Thailand. He stated that he was sneaked into a refugee camp in Surin from where he was transported to Sweden, and only knew that his father was a prince, without any more detail.{{Cite web |last=Sassoon |first=Alessandro Marazzi |title=Updated edition provides insight into lives and lineage of Cambodia's royals |url=https://phnompenhpost.com/post-life-arts-culture/updated-edition-provides-insight-lives-and-lineage-cambodias-royals |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=phnompenhpost.com |language=en |archive-date=27 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527115250/https://phnompenhpost.com/post-life-arts-culture/updated-edition-provides-insight-lives-and-lineage-cambodias-royals |url-status=live }} Charin's identity as Ekcharin was questioned by some, however, he was officially recognised by the royal family in 2017.
Charin made headlines in 2012, while living in Sweden, for pressing for a living wage for Cambodian workers in H&M clothing factories.{{cite web | last=Worrell | first=Shane | title=Swedish outcry has royal voice in midst | website=Phnom Penh Post | date=2012-10-31 | url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/swedish-outcry-has-royal-voice-midst | access-date=2023-09-17 | archive-date=21 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921190644/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/swedish-outcry-has-royal-voice-midst | url-status=live }} He later moved to Phnom Penh.
In 2021, a DNA test revealed that Charin was not Tea Kim Yin's biological son, and that Charin had falsified a DNA report he had originally provided. Yuvaneath died before the hoax was confirmed. The DNA swab collections of both Charin and Tea Kim Yin were conducted by Chiravouth Norodom, the first son of Yuvaneath and Tea Kim Yin, and Charin's alleged brother. As a result, Charin was expelled from the royal family.
Gallery
File:Ekcharin Norodom in March 1974.jpg|Ekcharin and maternal grandma, Phnom Penh, March 1974
File:Ekcharin Norodom eating Dec 1973.jpg|A young Ekcharin Norodom eating rice with a spoon, December 1973
Photo of fake Ekcharin.jpg|Charin Norodom (the imposter), 2015
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://cirict.org/ Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants]
- [https://www.cambodianroyals.com/norodom-ekcharin Fraudulent profile page of the Ekcharin imposter who was at one time actually accepted into the royal family]; information picked up and re-posted by several websites.
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