Taw Phaya


Prince Edward Taw Phaya was the Pretender to the Throne of Burma. He was the second son of Princess Myat Phaya Galay, the fourth daughter of King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat. Upon the death of his aunt Myat Phaya Lat in 1956, he became the Head of the Royal House of Konbaung.

Biography

Taw Phaya was born on 22 March 1924 in Maymyo, British Burma to parent Ko Ko Naing, a former monk and Princess Myat Phaya Galay who was the fourth daughter of King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat.
He attended high school at St. Patrick's High School, Moulmein and St. Paul's School in Rangoon. He worked as director of Thibaw Commercial Syndicate Co. Ltd in 1951 from 1962. He was also Vice President of Association for Buddhism as the National Religion in 1958.
On 4 May 1944, he married his first cousin, Princess Phaya Rita, daughter of Prince Kodawgyi Naing and Princess Myat Phaya, who was the third daughter of Burma's last king, Thibaw Min and the sister of his mother.

Documentary film

In 2017, Taw Phaya and his elder sister Hteik Su Phaya Gyi, nephew Soe Win, niece Devi Thant Sin appeared as the main characters of We Were Kings, a documentary film by Alex Bescoby and Max Jones. The film premiered in Mandalay on 4 November 2017 at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival and also screened in Thailand at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. The film is about Myanmar's history, but also about the descendants of the last kings of Burma who lived unassuming lives in modern Myanmar, unrecognized and unknown.

Death

Taw Phaya died on 12 January 2019 at his Pyin Oo Lwin Residence.

Family

Taw Phaya had five sons and two daughters: