Oriental gongs trembled as the beautiful young dancer swayed into Khmer rhythms. The bell tones of her name signify "Goddess of Flowers," and certainly Princess Bopha Devi, 25, eldest daughter of Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk, looks as serene and elegant as the white frangipani blossoms that she usually scatters through her hair. Now she was wearing the 6th century headdress, valued at $200,000, that marks her position as prima ballerina in Cambodia's Royal Ballet. It is a 2,000-year-old tradition that the leading dancer be the daughter of the king—and though Sihanouk has renounced...
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