1902 - 1922
A mysterious Burmese prince?
room United Kingdom
This photograph is from the National Portrait Gallery in London, which has held only a handful of Burmese. The subject is listed as Prince Maung Maung Gyi, a great-grandson of King Mindon. Elsewhere, he is reported to be a grandson of Thibaw (which is impossible). His father is listed as Prince Maung Maung U but the name of his grandfather (Mindon's son) is listed as "unknown".
Reportedly born in 1902, he seems to have been embroiled in a small scandal in 1922 when he was an engineering student in London and became engaged to a "Sylvia Charlotte Helen Forde of Wimbledon". On 6 September 1922, The Straits Times of Singapore reported that the Registrar-General of the UK had acted to stop the marriage. Another article stated the prince was under 21 and did not have the consent of his parents. Little else has emerged about this mysterious prince, with the most prominent clue being this photograph in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery.