The future king of the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei married a 17-year-old half-Swiss commoner yesterday in Asia's wedding of the year, attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world.
Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah -- the absolute and fabulously wealthy ruler of 350,000 subjects -- wed Sarah Salleh before 2,000 people in a traditional Malay Muslim ceremony at Istana Nurul Iman, the 1,788-room main palace.
The sultan escorted the prince -- wearing a gold crown and a kris dagger tucked into his sash -- to a golden chair on the dais. He was joined by his bride, who emerged from a stateroom more than an hour behind schedule.
The prince placed a hand on Sarah's diamond tiara as Muslim marriage prayers were recited for the centuries-old ceremony. She stood radiant in an embroidered blue dress and veil and clasped a gold-and-diamond bouquet. They then descended from the dais and kissed the sultan for his blessing.
The couple embarked in an open gold-colored, Rolls-Royce stretch limousine for an 8km parade across the capital, accompanied by 103 limousines and vehicles carrying family members as a marching band played.
But a tropical downpour soaked the couple, despite footmen walking alongside their vehicle with umbrellas.
The crown prince enjoys billiards and was educated at Oxford. He will be the 30th sultan in a line stretching back 600 years.
His bride, whose father is a manager at the Public Works Department, is "known among her teachers and friends for her grace, intelligence and positive attitude," the official wedding booklet said.
The bride's mother, the former Suzanne Aeby from a village outside Zurich, wore a blue veil and traditional Malay dress at the ceremony. She came to Brunei in the 1970s as a nurse and worked at the Health Ministry.
The ceremony caps two weeks of official celebrations taking place in one of Asia's smallest but richest countries, which shares Borneo island with Malaysia and Indonesia. An extravagant banquet for the guests was scheduled for today, followed by a fireworks display.
The Brunei ruling family's extravagance is legendary, and the sultan was the world's richest man before the advent of the high-tech era -- and a series of financial blunders blamed on his younger brother, Prince Jefri, in the 1990s, that resulted in the loss of an estimated US$7 billion.
Now living in Europe, Jefri was not present at the ceremony. It was unclear whether he was invited.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS