June Rose Bellamy
June Rose Bellamy | |
|---|---|
| ရတနာနတ်မယ် | |
 | |
| First Lady of Myanmar | |
| In role 24 December 1976 – May 1977 | |
| President | Ne Win |
| Preceded by | Ni Ni Myint |
| Succeeded by | Ni Ni Myint (remarriage) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Yadana Nat-Mei 1 June 1932 Rangoon, British Burma |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Michael Bellamy Postiglione Maurice Postiglione |
| Parent(s) | Herbert Bellamy (orchid collector) Hteiktin Ma Lat |
| Known for | great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung Mintha, ex-wife of Ne Win |
June Rose Bellamy, also Yadana Nat-Mei (Burmese: ရတနာနတ်မယ်; lit. Goddess of the Nine Jewels, born 1 June 1932) was the fourth wife of Burmese dictator Ne Win and former First Lady of Myanmar.[1] She is a Burmese royal princess of Australian descent and the great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung.[2]
Biography
June Rose was born on 1 June 1932 in Rangoon, British Burma. She was the great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung Mintha and granddaughter of Prince Limbin. She was the only daughter of Princess Hteiktin Ma Lat of Konbaung, and Herbert Bellamy, an Australian orchid collector long settled in Burma. She educated at St Joseph’s Convent School, Kalimpong, India, also educated in Rangoon, Burma and New York, USA.
June Rose was offered for a female lead role in the war film The Purple Plain, as the young Burmese nurse who gives a suicidal pilot (played by Gregory Peck) an interest in life, but says she pulled out during the shooting in Ceylon. "It was so Hollywood, it was ridiculous; it was an insult to anything that had to do with Burma," she said.[3]
First life
June Rose was first married Mario Postiglione, a physician and Senior Malaria advisor of WHO in Rangoon, Damascus, Geneva and Manila. The couple divorced in 1954, after having two sons, Michael Bellamy Postiglione and Maurice Postiglione.
Second life
In 1963 June Rose met Ne Win, Burma's new military ruler, in Europe, where she was living. Ne Win suggested she come back to Burma, but she was unwilling to leave Italy. On a later visit he proposed. They married in 1976, but the marriage lasted only five months.[4] June Rose now teaches International and Italian cooking in Florence, as well as carrying on charitable work, through Rangoon-based doctors, putting young Burmese students through medical school.[5]
References
- ^ Bayin, Anne (3 September 2019). "Lunch with a Myanmar Princess". The Irrawaddy.
- ^ The Konbaung Dynasty GENEALOGY
- ^ Hamish McDonald (4 January 2013). "Between two worlds". Griffith Review. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 4 January 2013 suggested (help) - ^ Hamish McDonald, "Between two worlds", Griffith REVIEW Edition 27: Food Chain
- ^ Hamish McDonald, "Between two worlds", Griffith REVIEW Edition 27: Food Chain