Anna Leonowens (1831–1915) was a widow who was hired to teach King Mongkut’s wives and children, chiefly his eldest son and heir Prince Chulalongkorn. Leonowens’ book has been criticized for its exaggerated and sensationalist treatment of Thailand, and Susan Morgan has recently suggested that Leonowens disguised her mixed English-Indian parentage. Leonowens’ memoir has been fictionalized in various forms, most famously in the musical film, The King and I (1956).
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