ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday extended his heartfelt condolences to the royal family and the people of Thailand over the passing of Queen Mother Sirikit.

Sirikit, who brought elegance to a postwar revival in the country’s monarchy and who, in later years, would occasionally wade into politics, died aged 93, the Thai Royal Household Bureau said on Saturday.

She had been out of the public eye since a stroke in 2012. The palace said she had been hospitalized since 2019 due to several illnesses and developed a bloodstream infection on October 17 before passing away late on Friday.

In his message on X, Sharif said he was deeply saddened at the passing of the beloved Queen Mother of Thailand.

“The people and Government of Pakistan join me in extending our deepest condolences to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the Royal Family, and the people of Thailand,” he said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time of national grief.”

The Thai government said public offices would fly flags at half-mast for a month and asked government officials to observe mourning for one year. Entertainment venues were asked to suspend activities for a month.

Thai PM Anutin Charnvirakul canceled trips to the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur and the APEC summit in South Korea next week due to the Queen Mother’s death. He told reporters he would travel to Malaysia to sign a ceasefire agreement with Cambodia on Sunday but return to Thailand afterwards.