Taw Phaya Gyi


Prince George Taw Phaya Gyi was a Burmese prince, the heir to the defunct throne of Burma. He was the eldest son of Princess Myat Phaya Galay and the grandson of King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat.

Biography

Taw Phaya Gyi was born on 6 May 1922 in Rangoon, British Burma to Ko Ko Naing, a former monk and Princess Myat Phaya Galay, who was the fourth daughter of King Thibaw and Chief Queen Supayalat. He studied at St Patrick’s High School Moulmein, St Paul’s School in Rangoon and graduated with a baccalaureate from Rangoon University in 1945. He served as Petrol Rationing Officer with the Departtment of Civil Supplies, when he was assassinated by Communist insurgents, who mistook him for a police officer at Tatkon, Central Burma in April 1948.
He married twice; his first wife was Khin Kyi who is the mother of his eldest surviving son, Soe Win, born 1947, a former diplomat and pretender to the throne, as one of the most senior male members of the Konbaung Dynasty. He married secondly, U Sein Hlaing, leaving another son, Myo Naing, born 1948.