Royal Burma Society of Great Britain

About Us

We are a voluntary and not-for-profit organisation founded with the aims of (a) promoting an understanding of Burmese history, heritage, culture, people and religion, (b) alleviating sufferings of Burmese poor including the refugees, AND (c) promoting friendship amongst members and other supporters.

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History

By Michael P Wright, BA(Hons)

Patron: His Royal Highness Prince Shwebomin of Burma

The RBS has been in existence in one form or another since the 1980s.

The founders were HRH Prince Shwebomin of Burma and Michael P. Wright.

It began initially as a group of like-minded friends, with a belief in the efficacy, for a nation state, of Constitutional Monarchy within a democratic structure.

The Prince had arrived in England, initially to study, in July 1961. After his M.Sc in Thermodynamics of Birmingham University that he gained in December 1968, he was on his way back to Burma; a very senior position, as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Industry, possibly, or another ministry awaited him. ( He has two more master's degrees.*)

His boss was to be a man called Sein-Lwin, who had ordered the blowing up of the Student Union building of Rangoon University in 1962 following the military coup of 2 March of that year.  Sein-Lwin was known as the Butcher of Rangoon, now known as Yangon, the original Burmese name. He was the henchman of the notorious military usurper Shu-Maung, with the nom de guerre of Ne-Win. The young Prince loathed Ne-Win although he loved the Tatmataw, which is the Burmese name of the Burmese Royal Armed Forces*. His relatives occupied senior positions in the Army.

Years before, Shu-Maung had stolen the wife of a Burmese doctor called U Toung-Gyi who lived in England; the wive was believed to be called Katy Bathan. Dr. Toung-Gyi did not return to Burma and  many Burmese believed that he was heart broken and left England for Uganda.  In 1965, during his engineering apprenticeship at Vickers , a major British shipyard in Burrow-in-Furness, the young Prince Shwebomin met Dr. Toung-Gyi by chance who practised as a GP (General Practitioner) in that town. He was treated by Dr. Toung-Gyi and his English wife, Barbara, as a member of the family. He played with their two children, Stephen by Barbara's first husband, and the younger one who was a girl by Dr. Toung-gyi and Barbara.

One fateful day in late December 1968, the Prince boarded a Pan Am jet bound for Rangoon. Little did the socialist government of Burma know that he had planned to jump plane. He would not serve the murderous BSPP (Burmese Socialist Programme party) regime of Shu-Maung; for to do so would be a most heinous betrayal to his people. Burmese people had suffered beyond imagination at the hand of Shu-Maung. The Prince was determined to defy Shu-Maung at any cost!

So, when the plane touched down at Frankfurt, the Prince headed to the exit and then to the train station and disappeared. Actually he was on his way to a beautiful German girl called Gudrum Schwarz, who was older than him and treated him like a younger brother. They had become very close in London and Gudrum was now living in Basle, in Switzerland.

The die was cast. The Prince could not foretell his future. He was to become stateless and

effectively became an exile – unable safely to return to Burma (now known as Myanmar - in this document called Burma).

One King One Nation

The RBS was initially established with the general & longer term aim of supporting the concept of constitutional monarchy for Burma at some suitable point in the future, given that there would be adequate support for such a concept at that time.

However, it was clear that there was a more immediate and practical goal: that of helping to alleviate the plight and suffering of Burmese refugees in neighbouring countries – and, indeed, in any other locations around the world.

So it was decided that the RBS would be a non-political society and would concentrate on humanitarian aid to refugees; to the building of cultural links & ties between the Burmese people & the wider international community; and the promotion and/or establishment of educational institutions both for refugees outside Burma and for the indigenous people of Burma.

It was agreed that the RBS should endeavour to build a nucleus of members and friends, and to undertake various fund-raising activities & events, the cash surplus from which would be remitted to Burmese refugee groups, and used to support the other aims & goals, as set out above, via the Prince and his – and members’ and friends’ - contacts.

The possibility of setting up the RBS as a charitable institution was raised in the 1990s, but at that time it was felt that the society needed first to expand its membership base - and also a pool of volunteeers prepared and able to act as executives or trustees.

By 2012 there was a consensus that one possible means of increasing membership would be for the RBS to now take the initial steps of setting itself up as a charitable institution. This could be in addition to (and quite separate from) any corporate or business activities in which supporters may also be involved for the larger or longer-term benefit of the society and its aims. (Please refer to the webpage on The Royal Burma Trust – at the top)

The RBS maintains a monthly Social Newsletter to provide comments on social activities and on international and political events. It is an important means of keeping people aware of the broader aspects of the Royal Burma Society, as well as providing the necessary information about the Royal Burma Trust.