Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit, who supervised royal projects to help the poor, preserve traditional craft-making and protect the environment, died on Friday at the age of 93.

The Royal Household Bureau said she died in a hospital in Bangkok.

Since October 17 she had been suffering from a blood infection and she had been largely absent from public life in recent years due to declining health.

Her husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died in October 2016.

The queen's son, King Vajiralongkorn, has instructed the palace to prepare a funeral with the highest honours and ordered a one-year mourning period for the royal family and royal court, local media reported.

The queen will lie in state at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit of Thailand

Thai King Bhumibol Adul

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