Prince Bira on ESPN F1 website
http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/14517.html
I have seen a few mentions of a Siamese prince who drove in several F1 races. Can you tell us more about him? asked James McFarland from Essex
This was the romantic figure of Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh of Siam - his grandfather was King Mongkut, who was immortalised in the play and film The King and I - who was known in his racing days as "B. Bira". He caught the racing bug while being educated in England, at Eton and Oxford, and his best results came before the F1 world championship was formalised: in 1936 he won four races in an ERA - called "Romulus" and painted in what became the Thai racing colours of pale blue and yellow - and also that year finished third at Brooklands in a Maserati. Bira did take part in 19 world championship GPs between 1950 and 1954, his best results being two fourth places, at the Swiss GP in 1950 and the French one in 1954. He did win a couple of non-championship F1 races around this time. Born in 1914, he retired suddenly in 1955, and lived on till 1985