London Witch Is Ancient Cambodian Princess
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Champei Pheakdei, 24, lives at London's prestigious St John's Wood High Street.
Her 3 bedroom flat rented for 1,500 pounds per week, has been home to Ms Pheakdei and her black cat, Pugsy, for almost 5 years.
A famous celebrity fortune teller in the city, known as "Peeky" to her clients, Ms Pheakdei has last week made claims to being a princess of the ancient Khemer Empire which was based in what is now called Cambodia.
The claim was initiated after receiving some ancient documents from an anonymous source last month, she says.
"I don't know who sent it to me. It was just a package with all these papers, including maps and handwritten letters stating my heritage and my great great grandpa to be King Jayavarman VIII", says Pheakdei.
If her claims are true, historians say, she could inherit properties and treasures worth up to 10 million pounds, and possibly also the title princess and a seat in the govenment. However, when contected, the Cambodian authorities have refused to make any comment on this matter.
The current ruler of Cambodia is King Norodom Sihamoni, who succeeded his father King Norodom Sihanouk. As Sihamoni remains a bachelor and has no children, he thus does not have a direct successor - The question now is, can Pheakdei be next in line ?
Pheakdei whose father is an Chinese Australian and mother a Thai, will find it difficult to prove to be a direct decendent of King Jayavarman VIII, say experts.
Peter Manson, a Professor of East Asian Studies here says, "Cambodians are very conservative people, her chances I would say, is close to zero."
Champei Pheakdei whose clients include celebrities like Paris Hilton and Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) remain unperturbed, "If this is my destiny, then I will get it...mahai !...they can't just say no. Why don't they do proper investigations first, mahai !", she says defiantly.
Pheakdei who prefers to call her trade, "destiny consulting" instead of fortune telling, is a member of the Golden Dawn society where she studied magick and the occult.
"I am more of a certified witch than a mere fortune teller", she says confidently.
When asked if she believes in Harry Porter, Pheakdei looked at her cat Pugsy, and stangely, Pugsy smiled and nodded knowingly.
