CAMBODIA: Bird in the Bush

"I beg you," Cambodia's impetuous young King Norodom Sihanouk entreated his subjects in a surprise broadcast last March, "permit me to leave my gilded cage." With that, he turned over the monarchy's six-tiered parasol to his father, Suramarit. After 14 years on the throne, 32-year-old Sihanouk was convinced that, "If I ever lose this King job, maybe I can go to Hollywood. They like Oriental characters over there, don't they? Maybe I could be a Cambodian Charlie Chan."

Last week, uncaged and happy, Citizen Sihanouk was flitting from village to village in...

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