10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SULTAN OF BRUNEI

    10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SULTAN OF BRUNEI

1.    EARLY LIFE – The full name of Sultan of Brunei is Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah. He was born on 15 July 1946 is the wealthiest monarch of the world. His full name is is 75 characters too long to fit in a tweet. He received his early education in the form of private tuition and attended top institutions in both Brunei and Kuala Lumpur until 1961. Whilst he was a cadet at Britain’s Sandhurst Military Academy, he was recalled to Brunei when his father voluntarily abdicted the throne in a last desperate move to resist both communism and pressure from the British to permit greater democracy. The father and son waged a public dispute over Radio Television Brunei, but in the end the police and the army declared allegiance to Hassanal. He was installed as the crown prince in 1967 at the age of 21. He is 29^th and current Sultan of Brunei. After Queen Elizabeth II, the Sultan is the world’s second longest reigning current monarch. He is also the first and incumbent prime minister of Brunei. He holds holds the position of both Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance of his country. After becoming prime minister and minister of defence, he brought Brunei into the United Nations.

2.    MARRIAGE AND KIDS - He got married to his first wife Saleha in 1965 and then got married to former airline hostess and commoner named Mariam Bell.  He then married to Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim. He has married and divorced to other other two wives and have 12 children and 10 grandchildren. His daughter and son-in-law on their wedding were wearing gold outfits which were embellished with diamonds, while blushing bride carried a bouquet made of dazzling gems, rather than flowers.

3.    SOURCES OF INCOME - The Sultan of Brunei earns $100 a second from oil earning and investments. This works out to around $2 billion a year. His income mainly comes from number of factors such as oil and natural gas. Other monarchies (such as the one in Saudi Arabia) control states worth more money but the money is considered an asset of the state, while the sultan of Brunei's money is closer to a personal asset even though it officially belongs to the state. The royal family controls the royalties and taxes from hydrocarbon production and shipping.

4.    LUXURIOUS LIFE STYLE – The Sultanate of Burnei is the most affluent sultanate in the world. Whilst playing polo with Britain’s prince Charles, the sultan once had his shoes delivered by helicopter to the palace field. Hassanal’s real estate holdings alone include an unknown number of luxury hotels and other properties in the Unities States, Great Britain, and southeast Asia as well as cattle stations in Australia that are larger than his entire country.  He owns homes in England and as well as in United States.

5.    PALACE - His palace, the Istana Nurul Iman houses government ministers as well as the royal family. It has 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, gold leafed domes, an 800 car garage and dozens of record setting interior features. It is the largest occupied palace in the world. Worried about catching Swine Flu, the Sultan made sure that his barber didn’t mix with other passengers on the plane and hence paid £11,000 ($18,000) for a private luxury cabin for his barber.

6.    BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT - As a birthday present to himself on his 50th, he built an enormous stadium and paid Michael Jackson $17 million to perform there. He has interest in gambling, polo, race cars and the company of international jet-setters. He also owns the world’s largest yacht.

7.    CAR COLLECTION - He is a car guy as he has the world’s largest car collection of over 7000 cars, sports cars, rare and limited editions all housed in a garage with separate wings devoted to each brand. He owns Lamborghinis, over 300 Ferraris, 20 Koenigseggs, 6 Daver Porchse 962 LM’s, 11 McLaren F1’s and 600 Rolls Royces, all valued at an estimated three hundred million dollars. Some of his cars are coated with 24 carat gold.

8.    FAMILY POSSESSION – His family possessions include Dorchester Hotel Luxury Chain, more than 17 airplanes, 150 homes in 12 countries, one 12 foot-tall-rocking horse. He owns 10 luxury watches, at a cost of $8 million, a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, Gold plated toilet bowl brushes, a sofa shaped like a Cadillac.

9.    ALLEGATIONS – Along with his brother Prince Jefri, the Sultan has been subject of sexual slavery allegations. In 1997, former Miss USA Shannon Marketic filed a law suit against the family for 90 million dollars alleging that she and six other young women were paid 127 dollars each for modelling jobs in Brunei but she was held as a sex slave at the Sultan’s palace and was intimidated and coerced into performing physically and morally acts of prostitution. However, the cases were dismissed due to immunity of the ruling family as the head of the state. So, even if there is any criticism, the press is largely controlled by the royal family.

10. HIER TO THE THRONE - Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah was born at Istana Darul Hana, Bandar Seri Begawan on 17 February 1974. He is the first-born son and heir to the throne of Brunei. He is the son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and his first wife Saleha.