Norodom Yuvaneath

Prince Norodom Yuvaneath (born October 17, 1943 in Phnom Penh) is the first son of the late king of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk and Princess Sisowath Pongsanmoni. He is the half-brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni.

In 1957, under the direction of his socialist-leaning father, who was at the time the current King's son, Prince and the de facto leader of Cambodia, the Ankar Khamarak Kayarith was transformed into the "Royal Socialist Khmer Youth", with Sihanouk himself serving as president of this state-run organization, now controlled by the Royal government. The 2,000 members and the leaders of Cambodian Scouting were permitted by the government to carry on activities. Scouts and Scout leaders attended the World Jamboree in 1959 in the Philippines, among them Prince Norodom Yuvaneath. Soon after, Sihanouk announced the dissolution of the Cambodian Boy Scout Association, whose members were subsequently integrated into the JSRK, a government sponsored youth movement.

Norodom Yuvaneath married his first wife, Prep Mau in 1959 and had two children:

• Norodom Chhavann-rangsi (born 25/6/1960)
• Norodom Yuveakduri (born 1962)

Norodom Yuvaneath married his second wife, Yin Kim in June 1962. In 1970 after the coup by General Lon Nol, Yuvaneath's family fled to Beijing, where they lived until 1980, when Yuvaneath moved his family to Connecticut in the United States. Yuvaneath has four children:

• Prince Norodom Veakchearavouth (born 10/01/1966, married 2001)
• Norodom Veakcharin (born 1969); he was assumed to have died in 1976during the Khmer Rouge government, but had fled to a refugee camp on the Thai/Cambodian Border, from where he reached Sweden. He returned to Phnom Penh in 2013
• Princess Norodom Pekina (born 07/07/1970) who still lives in Connecticut and works for Timex
• Princess Norodom Yuveakdevi (born 06/09/1974)

Norodom Yuvaneath was educated at the Lycée Sisowath. He speaks French and English in addition to his native Khmer.

In 1993, after the Vietnamese left Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk returned to Cambodia and, on December 31 of that year, elevated Prince Yuvaneath to the rank of Sdech Krom Luon, appointing him Privy Counsellor to His Majesty the King, a rank equal to that of Deputy Prime Minister. After King Sihanouk abdicated, the new king Sihamoni, Yuvaneath's younger spear brother, appointed Yuvaneath the Supreme Royal Advisor. In this capacity, Yuvaneath proclaimed his opposition to the tribunal of former Khmer Rouge leaders, believing that the 1975-1979 turmoil resulting in the massacre of over 2 million Cambodians was a result of foreign intervention by the Vietnamese and Thai governments. Yuvaneath also stated his belief that a trial would be contrary to the interests of national reconciliation. Despite Yuvaneath's opposition to the tribunal, neither the king nor Sihanouk has made a public statement about trials. Yuvaneath is also a Commander of the Royal Order of Monisaraphon.