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Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother, née Sangwal Chukramol, was born on the 21 st of October 1900 in Nonthaburi province to a goldsmiths family. Her father, Chu , was a goldsmith and her mother, Kham, was a housewife.

The Princess Mother spent her childhood amongst ordinary people in the community in the vicinity of Anongkharam Temple , in Thonburi. She was still very young when her father Chu passed away, so she grew up under the upbringing of her mother Kham and her aunt Suay, (Khams elder sister), and it was by her mother Kham that she was given preliminary education. She subsequently attended Anongkaram Temple Girls School and Suksa Naree School respectively, where she spent a short period of time as a student.

As she was turning 8, her elderly relatives, out of sincerest loyalty, offered her to serve as a court attendant to Her Royal Highness Princess Valaya Alongkorn , a daughter of His Majesty King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and Her Majesty Queen Sawang Vadhana. By kind consent of HRH Valaya Alongkorn , Sangwal was allowed to further her studies after completing elementary education, and in 1913, at the age of 13, she attended Siriraj School of Obstetrics and Nursing as a nursing student.

Graduating from the nursing school in December 1916, Miss Sangwal started working for Siriraj Hospital . In the following year, Miss Sangwal was granted a royal scholarship by Her Majesty Queen Sawang Wathana to study in the United States of America , at Emerson School in Berkeley , California , from 1917 to 1918. She was later enrolled to study at North Western School in Hartford , Connecticut , where she was destined to know His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol, who was studying medical science at Harvard University .

In 1919, HRH Prince Mahidol and Miss Sangwal Chukramol became engaged. After the engagement, Miss Sangwal moved to live and study at the home of Miss Emily and Miss Constance Williston in Cambridge , Massachusetts , where she studied algebra, Latin and French, in addition to English, which she studied at Miss Johnsons tutoring school.

The year that followed, 1920, marked an auspicious occasion on which HRH Princess Mahidol and Miss Sangwal became united in royal matrimony in Thailand . Subsequently, the couple returned to the United States and HRH Prince Mahidol changed his study discipline to Public Health Science, at Harvard University and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Meanwhile, Lady Sangwal attended a pre-nursing programme at Simmons College and upon completion furthered her studies in School Health. During this time, HRH Prince Mahidol and his consort lived in a modest apartment in Boston .

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