Norodom Sihanouk  from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was known as 'The King-Father of Cambodia', a position in which he retained many of his former responsibilities as constitutional monarch.

The French, who ruled Cambodia at the time of Sihanouk's 1940s ascent to the throne thought that he would prove easy to manipulate. They were wrong. 'They chose me because they thought I was a little lamb,' Sihanouk impishly wrote in one of his many books. 'Later they were surprised to discover that I was a tiger.'

The son of King Norodom Suramarit and Queen Sisowath Kossamak, Sihanouk held so many positions since 1941 that the Guinness Book of World Records identifies him as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices. These included two terms as king, two as sovereign prince, one as president, two as prime minister, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile. He served as puppet head of state for the Khmer Rouge government in 1975-1976.

Most of these positions were only honorific, including the last position as constitutional king of Cambodia. Sihanouk's actual period of effective rule over Cambodia was from 9 November 1953, when Cambodia gained its independence from France, until 18 March 1970, when General Lon Nol and the National Assembly deposed him. Always the political opportunist, Sihanouk joined up with the Khemr Rouge - a move that would prove disastrous, as he was immediately locked away in his own royal palace so that he might not provide succour to the people. While in this prison, he learned of the deaths of five of his children. But that was not the end game for Sihanouk, who returned to the throne to much rejoicing in 1993, a reinstatement some saw as symbolic of a new life for war-torn Cambodia.

On 15 October 2012, all Cambodian people were so sad to get the news that our great father king, Norodom Sihanouk, died. His body had been lying in state since he died of a heart attack in Beijing at the age of 90. The king's elaborate coffin, draped in a blue royal flag and festooned with flowers, was placed on a gilded carriage shaped to represent a mythical birdlike creature. Mourners clutched incense sticks and lotus flowers. They remained quiet and reverential, many kneeling, as the carriage wheeled past King Sihanouk, crowned in 1941, had gradually withdrawn from public life in recent years. In his long, colorful and complex rule as king and politician, he was praised by historians for his role in peacefully obtaining independence from France and criticized for providing legitimacy to the Khmer Rouge and assisting their rise to power. About 1.7 million people are estimated to have died under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

King, Norodom Sihamoni, who reluctantly took the throne when his father abdicated in 2004. King Sihamoni, 59, is a former ballet instructor who remains under the long shadow of his father. He is unmarried and seen as unlikely to produce an heir. Although kings can be chosen from among hundreds of descendants of prior kings, the lack of an obvious successor to King Sihamoni has raised anxiety among some royalists. Unlike the royals in Thailand or Britain, the Cambodian royal family is not wealthy and does not have vast landholdings. Kings are largely reliant on the state budget for their activities, giving the government potential leverage over the monarchy. After lying in state for three months, his embalmed body was cremated after several days of lavish ceremonies including an elaborate procession through the streets of Phnom Penh that drew crowds of mourners.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners have gathered in Cambodia's capital awaiting the cremation of King Norodom Sihanouk, the revered 'King-Father' who survived wars and the Khmer Rouge regime to hold centre stage in the south-east Asian nation for more than half a century. Cambodians from across the country flocked to Phnom Penh to pay their last respects as Sihanouk was given elaborate funeral rites - mingling Hindu, Buddhist and animist traditions - last seen 53 years ago with the death of his father, King Norodom Suramarit.

The cremation marked the end of a designated seven days of mourning. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and the royal family led a massive funeral procession; Cambodians turned out in droves to watch the King Father's body glide through the city streets. Outside the blocked-off area near Cambodia's royal palace, hundreds of thousands of eager mourners jockeyed for a path inside to pay their final respects. Street toy and snack vendors plied the crowd, and the city's usually-off fountains burst into life for the occasion.

The funeral is being attended by Foreign leaders attending the ceremony included the French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault  , Prince Akishino of Japan, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnamese Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung, China's Jia Qinglin, a senior government adviser and former high-ranking politburo member and leaders of neighbouring countries. One hundred one guns flashed against a quiet summer sky, then the sound of conch shells pierced the air. Norodom Sihanouk ,Cambodia's two-time king and former prime minister,  had been placed onto his final funeral pyre. Sihanouk's son, King Noradom Sihamoni, and his widow, Queen Norodom Monineath, set alight the ornate pyre. The bright display pumped white smoke into the air over the country's capital just after the sun had slipped below an unusually pink February sky.

Sihanouk was a remarkably astute politician, and is widely credited with keeping his small nation out of the Vietnam War that raged nearby for so long. He abdicated in favor of his son, Noradom Sihamoni, in 2004 - but remained the titular head of state, referred to as the 'King Father.' Even though the monarch had allied himself with the Maoist movement, Sihanouk - who loved to direct films, write poetry and compose songs - remained hugely popular. Cambodia wrapped up a week-long funeral for its revered former King Norodom Sihanouk with a procession to return the cremated remains of the colourful ex-monarch to the royal palace. After chanting by 90 Buddhist monks, two diamond-studded gold urns and one marble urn containing the remains were transported atop a golden float shaped like a mythological bird from the crematorium to the palace.

The rest of the remains had been lowered into the confluence of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh. Sihanouk's widow Monique and his son King Norodom Sihamoni travelled on the float with the urns during a televised procession attended by senior government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen. Although, our hero father king passed away, we still always remember and respectful for him because we are love him very much.

※ References

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013020861264/National/king-father-s-ashes-enter-palace.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/02/20132411623113755.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/world/asia/thousands-mourn-former-king-sihanouk-in-cambodian-capital.html?_r=0
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/04/cambodians-last-respects-king-sihanouk
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/cambodia/130204/cambodia-king-father-sihanouk-cremated-photos
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1252804/1/.html