Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has paid tribute to his father by publishing an excerpt from his new book Life Taught Me, which is to be released in the coming months.
Sheikh Mohammed posted the message on X on Father’s Day, which is celebrated in the UAE on June 21. The post included part of the ninth chapter of the book and reflects on the enduring lessons passed down by his late father, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, former ruler of Dubai.
The book will offer reflections on leadership, character and life values. Sheikh Mohammed has said he learnt many of the lessons from his father.
“Every time I think about my father's shrewdness and wisdom … his life and his biography … I realise how much I learnt from him … and how I was influenced by his personality,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X.
The tribute paints a vivid portrait of Sheikh Rashid as a calm, composed and principled leader who shaped Dubai’s development and inspired his son.
“I learnt from my father the simplicity of life, self-control, not to be preoccupied with trivialities and not to believe weak-minded and frivolous people,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote. “I learnt from him how to listen … and when to be tough and when to be gentle.”
Describing his father as dignified and compassionate to all, Sheikh Mohammed said: “His mere presence commanded reverence from everyone. My father was rarely angry or upset. He was kind and good-natured. He did not like deception. He did not get alarmed or panicked by anything. Rather, he was steadfast, confident and serious.”
The post offers a rare insight into how Sheikh Rashid’s legacy has shaped Sheikh Mohammed’s approach to governance. “I learnt from my father to love my family, relatives, brothers and to be close to my sisters … and I still do,” he said. “I learnt from him to love honesty and justice.”
Sheikh Mohammed said his father's strong character left a lasting impression. “My father did not like a lot of food, or a lot of talking or a lot of buildings and palaces. Rather, he tended towards simplicity, lightness and self-control.”
Life Taught Me follows Sheikh Mohammed’s earlier titles such as My Story, Flashes of Thought and My Vision.
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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