The family of the Sultan of Brunei and their royal outfits. Luxurious wedding of the future Sultan of Brunei The richest Sultan

The royal wedding of the future Sultan of Brunei, Prince Abdul Malik, with his chosen one, 22-year-old programmer Dayangku Raabi’atul ‘Adawiyyah Pengiran Haji Bolkiah, eclipsed even the wedding of the Crown Prince of the British throne, which, compared to this one, could be called very modest. The prince of Brunei and his chosen one were dressed in wedding dresses embroidered with real gold, and the bride's bouquet was made of precious stones.

12 PHOTOS

The material was prepared with the support of the jewelry online magazine http://www.jewellerymag.ru.

1. Prince Abdul Malik is the youngest of the four sons of the reigning Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and the second in line to the throne after his father. The wedding ceremony took place 11 days after the engagement. (Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS / REUTERS).
2. The shoes of the bride from Christian Louboutin are decorated with diamonds and gold. (Photo: OLIVIA HARRIS / REUTERS / REUTERS). 3. The bride's wedding necklace and tiara are adorned with diamonds and huge emeralds the size of grapes. According to local traditions, the bride must wear something borrowed. In this case, it was the mother-in-law's jewelry - a diamond tiara, a necklace and a brooch. (Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS / REUTERS).
4. The solemn wedding ceremony took place in the Sultan's palace in the capital of Brunei, in Bandar Seri Begawan. Istana Nurul Imam Palace - the residence of the Sultan - has 1788 rooms. (Photo: OLIVIA HARRIS / REUTERS / REUTERS).
5. The Sultan of Brunei, the groom's father and fuel magnate, is one of the richest men in the world. His fortune is estimated at 20-80 billion dollars. Hassanal Bolkiah has been ruling his country since 1967. (Photo: OLIVIA HARRIS / REUTERS / REUTERS).
6. The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has five sons and seven daughters from three marriages. Prince Abdul Malik is second in line to the Brunei throne. The first son, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadi Bill of Brunei, married over 10 years ago. (Photo: OLIVIA HARRIS / REUTERS / REUTERS).
7. During the wedding ceremony. (Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS / REUTERS).

Brunei, a 400,000-strong British colony on the northwestern coast of Borneo, is an absolute monarchy (sultanate). In Brunei, which is ruled by the 68-year-old sultan, he is both the head of state and the head of government, and the minister of national defense, and the minister of finance.

8. Prince Abdul Malik with his father, the Sultan of Brunei. Members of the royal family have often been criticized for being too extravagant in their lifestyle. The Telegraph recalled that in 1996, Michael Jackson was supposed to receive £10 million for a concert in honor of the 50th birthday of the Sultan. However, dissatisfaction with the state system in the country is small, which is a consequence of the high standard of living of its citizens, as well as free education and healthcare. (Photo: OLIVIA HARRIS / REUTERS / REUTERS).
9. Brunei is a country whose official religion is Islam. Last year, after the adoption of Sharia law by the Sultan, which allows the use of punishments such as stoning and flogging, a wave of indignation and discontent rose in the country. (Photo: OLIVIA HARRIS / REUTERS / REUTERS).

Arriving in the evening from the island of Bali to the capital of Brunei, we settled in the Palm Garden Hotel Brunei ($70/room) and, having walked along the surrounding streets, got a little acquainted with the capital of the Sultanate. By 9 o'clock in the evening, the city had already fallen into a lethargic sleep - everywhere it was quiet, calm and loud music was not heard anywhere.

In the evening, we agreed with a private guide Feizal about the upcoming excursions around the city and its environs.

What kind of country is Brunei and who rules it?

After breakfast, Feisal picked us up and took us on a city tour. He turned out to be quite erudite and knew many facts from the history of Brunei.

Our guide Fayzal

Although little is known about the ancient times that preceded the spread of Islam in the lands of Brunei and the formation of the state - no one kept any archives at that time. For the first time, Europeans learned about these lands from the Portuguese Magellan, who moored to the shores of Brunei in 1522. In 1888, the country became a British protectorate for almost a hundred years.

In the 20s of the last century, deposits of natural gas and oil were discovered here (and, by the irony of the Almighty, only within the borders of Brunei!) And the small sultanate suddenly became fantastically rich.

The then Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin turned out to be a clever one and, skillfully combining his own interests with British and Malay ones, managed to maintain both the sovereignty of the country and control over the fantastic oil and gas reserves, which laid the foundations for the current prosperity of the country.

In 1967, he ceded the throne to his son Hadji Hassanal Bolkiah, who still rules the country. And now the son, who became the 29th Sultan, is considered one of the richest people in the world. According to the accepted custom, each new sultan, assuming the throne, builds a new temple. He did not deviate from this tradition either.

The Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque, built by him at the intersection of the main thoroughfares of the city, is visible from almost everywhere. This is a real masterpiece of Muslim architecture.

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As a rule, his family members and close relatives act as his ministers, assistants and proxies. Brunei in translation means “blessed abode of peace”, which, in general, the authorities managed to create and is true.

Thanks to the inexhaustible oil and gas pipeline and the smart policy of the Sultan, he managed to build an absolute hereditary theocratic monarchy in the country. Is this good in our enlightened age?

Brunei practice has shown that if the monarch is reasonable and has received not only local, but also English upbringing and education, is familiar with the etiquette of Buckingham Palace, and even knows how to play cricket, rugby, golf and participates along with residents in city marathons, then with this the monarch will live well not only the current 400 thousand, but also several times more Brunei.

Sultan and his first wife

He is now 69 years old and has been married three times. The first wife is Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Salexa and, apparently, the most beloved one is almost his age. She survived his two subsequent spouses, with whom the Sultan married and divorced and who were 20-30 years younger than her.

It is evident that he did not lose his mind in his old age. But, being a devout Muslim and a far from poor person, he also has a harem of 700 concubines. With some of them, he probably never slept - their duty is to sing and dance, entertain and create an aura of constant celebration around the ruler.

It looks very simple and sporty. Of the rich hobbies - collecting paintings of the Impressionists and unique and expensive cars. There are a lot of them in his fleet and the exact count is lost - they say, something around 5-7 thousand. It has a "modest" palace with 1788 apartments and 257 bathrooms.

Despite such hobbies, he tried to be closer to his people - he took his second and third wife from the "commoners" - a flight attendant and a TV journalist, whom he had already divorced.

Sultan with first and third wives

There is even one day - the last day of Ramadan - when any person, including a tourist, can easily come to his palace and receive a gift and a handshake from him. But we were at the end of January, so we didn’t bother with such an honor.

Such is the Sultan of Brunei - one of the richest people in the world.

The population of the Sultanate, of course, with both hands for him. Gossip about him and his numerous relatives is not supported by either the population or the media. Yes, they probably don’t give such a reason - after all, everything here is done on a sober head.

True, there was one incident with his brother Geoffrey, whom he nevertheless did not hesitate to “imprison” (sent with his wives into exile in London, where he left only $ 300 thousand a month for bread and water) for corruption during the construction of the most expensive hotel on the north coast of Brunei - The Empire Hotel & Country Club 5 *.

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But, in general, this is not typical for the country. High salaries in all spheres of Brunei's life hold back this process. Here, not only all the laws of the life of the state are strictly observed, but also the generally accepted rules and norms of behavior associated with Islam. Since 1991, the sale of alcohol has been banned in the country, Islam has been studied in schools, and the screws have been tightened around this religion. At the same time, the Sultan wisely gave space to other religions, including Buddhism and Christianity.

The main ethnic group of Brunei is the Malays (not to be confused with the Malans!) and related peoples. And with such and such people, he managed to build a kind of socialism-communism here, where not only the Sultan, but also all the other inhabitants of the country live well.

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Ordinary Brunei have nothing to grieve

Actually, the situation is exactly the same in the United Arab Emirates - there the sultans, sitting on an oil and gas pipe, also worry not only about themselves.

Sultan Bolkiah is pursuing a policy of cautious modernization of society. And this is right, otherwise the people can immediately “go crazy” from all the newfangled novelties of our civilization.

Brunei Hospital

Every day in the morning and in the evening we stopped at the central Brunei hospital to visit our comrade who fell ill with malaria in Papua. It is a large complex of buildings, similar to our typical large city hospitals. It stands at the fork of several roads and no more structures are visible around it - a whole medical town.

Ambulance available to all citizens of Brunei

It has everything that our hospitals have - an emergency department, to which ambulances quite often flew up, an intensive care unit, all sorts of specialized departments, laboratories, etc. Everyone, including a non-citizen of Brunei, can go to the emergency department.

Arriving here immediately on our first evening, we went into the emergency department, which was a large room in which about 20 people were sitting. All of them were waiting for their turn to two doctors who, after examining the patient, issued a summary of what to do next. The queue moved slowly and I then went straight to the intensive care unit and told about our case. The doctor on duty, immediately assessing the situation, ordered to bring the patient to them in the department and they immediately prepared a place for him and took blood tests.

All intensive care units are mobile. That is, thanks to the curtains that move apart along the rails on the ceiling, they are transformed into two-three, four-bed chambers. Very comfortably. Both men and women can be in such a room. Does it matter who you are next to when you lie on a drip all day?

Mobile ward in a Brunei hospital

Fifteen minutes later, after receiving a blood test, the doctor pronounced a harsh verdict - “Malaria! We leave it here! Then he gave instructions to several nurses and nurses, each of whom then did only some of his own manipulations. The healing process began immediately!

So, the malaria lottery game in the jungles of Papua, visiting cannibals-korowais, ended with a score of 1:11!

It was nice to watch the well-coordinated medical process from the outside. I thought it was, and take the tests myself, but typical symptoms have not yet been observed and therefore we decided to do it in the morning in a paid laboratory. This analysis cost $10.

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One of our friend's doctors

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duty nurse

Every day the doctors of our patient changed, but it was clear that all the doctors were experienced and at the same time knew English well, unlike the nurses, who spoke only their Brunei. Doctors' salaries were about $6,000 a month, and nurses' salaries were about $2,000.

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Everything will be fine!

After staying in the hospital for four days, our sick friend was discharged in a satisfactory condition and he flew home with the recommendations of the Brunei doctors, thanks to which everything later ended well.

Brunei

Did you manage to see the life of ordinary Brunei? Seems Yes. It seemed that they live in abundance. The income of the average resident is about 20 thousand dollars a year. All residents improve their health for free and can also study for free in any country abroad. They don't pay taxes. Every inhabitant of this country is provided with a lifelong pension, which allows them to live comfortably.

In addition, all Bruneians receive gifts on his birthday and actively use interest-free bank loans, which they use to buy expensive things. Sometimes planes. In addition, the state pays for each hajj - the traditional annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Here is such a modest, calm and well-fed life among the Brunei - he worked, ate, prayed and went to bed. They do not have the so-called. "night life". So what? Back in the 1990s, Brunei banned the sale of alcohol. The whole life of the Bruneians is ruled by the generally accepted law - "Adat". And the Ministry of Religious Affairs enforces strict Muslim rules.

There is “halal” - what is allowed, and there is “haram” - actions that are prohibited. For example, with regard to haram in food, the Qur'an clearly defines a list of foods that are strictly prohibited in Islam. And, first of all, pork is one of them.

And in the financial sector, usury, risky investments and financing of activities prohibited by Shariah (pornography, alcohol, drugs, etc.) are prohibited.

A liter of gasoline costs 53 Brunei cents (1BND = 0.8USD), a fine for garbage is 1,000 BND. The penalty for fun games is 10,000 BND. There are no casinos and slot machines in the country.

Brunei women, it seemed to me, feel quite free compared to their sisters in other Muslim countries.

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They wear both national and European clothes. They drive cars and even serve in the police. There are a lot of them in the airport service. But, even being an officer, they cover their heads with a scarf. And it turns out an interesting picture for us - standing in front of you is a short and overweight officer in uniform - trousers with a tunic and a scarf, and even strictly asks - "Are there any illegal things in the luggage"?

Such, at first glance, Brunei life. Calm and with confidence in the future of every citizen.

Therefore, probably the most severe punishment for a crime for a Brunei will not be a prison or a cut off of a hand, but the deprivation of such a wonderful citizenship.

What are the main attractions of the capital of the Sultanate and its environs? I think in three days we will be able to get to know them.

The ceremony began on April 5 and will last 11 days. Gold, precious stones, simply unimaginable luxury...

Several hundred hundreds of relatives, friends and diplomats are present at this wedding. The 1,788-room royal family's palace in Brunei's capital has room for everyone. Prince Abdul Malik, 31, exchanged vows with Dayangku Raabiatul Adavia Pengiran Haji Bolkia, 22.

The newlyweds at their first appearance in public literally sparkled with richly decorated outfits in the Malay style, while the young wife of the son of the Sultan flaunted a set of gold jewelry with diamonds and emeralds the size of a quail egg. And in the hands of the bride, instead of a bouquet of flowers, there was a bouquet of precious stones. On the girl's legs were seen shoes from the Christian Louboutin collection for $ 4,000, and a weighty gold bracelet shone on her ankle.

The royal wedding of the future Sultan of Brunei, Prince Abdul Malik, with his chosen one, 22-year-old programmer Dayangku Raabi’atul ‘Adawiyyah Pengiran Haji Bolkiah, eclipsed even the wedding of the Crown Prince of the British throne, which, compared to this one, could be called very modest. The prince of Brunei and his chosen one were dressed in wedding dresses embroidered with real gold, and the bride's bouquet was made of precious stones.

Prince Abdul Malik is the youngest of the four sons of the reigning Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and second in line to the throne after his father. The wedding ceremony took place 11 days after the engagement.



The solemn wedding ceremony took place in the Sultan's palace in the capital of Brunei, in Bandar Seri Begawan. Istana Nurul Imam Palace - the residence of the Sultan - has 1788 rooms.


The bride's wedding necklace and tiara are adorned with diamonds and huge emeralds the size of grapes. According to local traditions, the bride must wear something borrowed. In this case, these were the mother-in-law's jewelry - a diamond tiara, a necklace and a brooch.


The bride's shoes by Christian Louboutin are decorated with diamonds and gold.


During the wedding ceremony.
Brunei, a 400,000-strong British colony on the northwestern coast of Borneo, is an absolute monarchy (sultanate). In Brunei, which is ruled by the 68-year-old sultan, he is both the head of state and the head of government, and the minister of national defense, and the minister of finance.




Prince Abdul Malik with his father, the Sultan of Brunei. Members of the royal family have often been criticized for being too extravagant in their lifestyle. The Telegraph recalled that in 1996, Michael Jackson was supposed to receive £10 million for a concert in honor of the 50th birthday of the Sultan. However, dissatisfaction with the state system in the country is small, which is a consequence of the high standard of living of its citizens, as well as free education and healthcare.














The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has five sons and seven daughters from three marriages. Prince Abdul Malik is second in line to the Brunei throne. The first son, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadi Bill of Brunei, married over 10 years ago.


The Sultan of Brunei, the groom's father and fuel magnate, is one of the richest men in the world. His fortune is estimated at 20-80 billion dollars. Hassanal Bolkiah has been ruling his country since 1967.




About five thousand guests were invited to the wedding of Prince Abdul Malik.

You can’t forbid living beautifully - rich people know this firsthand, who can afford everything their heart desires. Well, if you have unlimited wealth and money, gold flows like a river, then life becomes simply magical. Perhaps just like in a fairy tale lives the richest ruler of the world - the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah. He has been the sole ruler with unlimited powers of this small state since 1967, and also the richest dictator of the XX-XXI century. This person can afford everything, even what is sometimes beyond human imagination.

Where does the Sultan of Brunei live?

Let's start with the "house" where the Sultan of Brunei lives. You will not see a residence of this magnitude anywhere else in the world. And it is called "The Palace of Light and Faith." Inside the residence is finished with marble, window frames, doorways, interior elements are all made of gold. In total, the palace has about 1,800 rooms, 257 baths, 18 elevators, 5 pools, a throne room, government offices, a banquet hall for 4,000, a large mosque and a garage for a hundred cars, as well as a huge stable. This residence was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest residence of the head of state.

The palace itself houses a large collection of famous paintings. For example, a Renoir painting worth $70 million. From the outside, the residence of the Sultan is surrounded by beautiful vegetation and landscaping, there are guards around, so there is no way to get closer. The doors of the golden palace open only once a year during the holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Each guest receives a gift from the Sultan.

The relationship of the inhabitants of Brunei to their ruler

Hassanal Bolkiah does not hide his wealth in front of his subjects, citizens, and openly demonstrates it. At the same time, he is very popular and respected. So wherever you go, to a restaurant, cafe or shop, two portraits will hang everywhere: one of the Sultan, and the second of his first wife, Anak Saleh (she is his cousin). In some establishments, you can see a whole altar with portraits of the Sultan.

Personal qualities of the Sultan

Looking at all these portraits, where the Sultan is depicted as a superhero, you can see many awards for him for various achievements. So Hassanal Bolkiah is:

• Field Marshal of the Brunei Army;
• Marshal of the Navy and Air Force of Brunei;
• general, admiral British Air Marshal;
• Indonesian, Pakistani, Indian paratrooper;
• has a PhD from Oxford, King's College London, MGIMO, National University of Singapore.

As you can see, the Sultan of Brunei is talented in everything. He even emphasized his perfection in a special decree of 2006, which states that “His Majesty the Sultan is not capable of making mistakes either in personal or in state affairs .... No person should harm the dignity of His Majesty."

What does the Sultan of Brunei drive?

Sultan Hassanal's fleet deserves special attention. It is difficult to calculate how many cars there are in it: they say more than three or five thousand, but it is known for sure that there are rare cars here, as well as the most modern, exclusive ones, made by the personal order of the Sultan. The most famous among them are: Rolls-Royces, Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Formula 1 championship cars. In general, all this luxury is stored in a garage of 1 square kilometer. In addition, all members of the royal family have car numbers with letters.

All this wealth is complemented by a personal plane, helicopter, racing car. For international visits, the Sultan uses a $400 million Boeing 747-400. Rumor has it that the interior of the Boeing is gold, but this is not the only airliner owned by the Sultan. He also has an Airbus A340, six small planes and two helicopters.

But is this money for a person whose fortune is estimated at 40 billion.

This is how one of the richest sultans of the 21st century lives.

The Sultan of Brunei is one of the richest people in the world. He surprises the world with boundless luxury. The whole world enviously discusses the published scandalous data on his expenses, and he continues to live in a big way. One of his recent purchases is an Airbus A340 aircraft for US$100 million. Let's take a look at the flying palace - the personal plane of the head of the oil power.

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1. The Airbus A340 is a long-haul four-engine wide-body jet passenger aircraft developed by Airbus SAS and is the world's longest passenger aircraft with a fuselage length of 75.3 meters. Due to its large wingspan and high fuel consumption, the A340-212 was not in demand - a total of 28 such aircraft were produced, including the Sultan version.

2. Corridor in the plane of the Sultan.

3. Meeting room.

4. And this is very romantically called the "compartment compartment."

5. Toilet with shower. All plumbing in the aircraft is gilded.

6. And finally, the golden shell.

8. The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has been flying an Airbus A340-212 for a long time, and according to US intelligence, getting on board is more difficult than entering a room with a US nuclear launch system.

9. The Sultan bought an Airbus A340-212 for $100 million, after which he gave it for revision to the American military department (!) Raytheon, which completely changed the interior of the aircraft for $120 million and modernized it somewhat. Additional fuel tanks increased the flight range to 15 thousand km, against 12.4 thousand for the production model.

10. Airbus Sultan of Brunei was decorated in the colors of the national flag.

11. Hassanal Bolkiah has been surrounded by gold and diamonds since the day he was born. In October 1967, at the age of 21, Bolkiah took over as Sultan of Brunei and began to increase his wealth. Gold accompanies the Sultan everywhere, even in the sky.