BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei – The future king of the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei married a 17-year-old half-Swiss commoner Thursday at a wedding attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world.
Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – the fabulously wealthy ruler of 350,000 subjects – wed Sarah Salleh before 2,000 people in a traditional Malay Muslim ceremony at Brunei’s giant 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 Salleh’s diamond tiara as Muslim marriage prayers were recited for the centuries-old ceremony. She wore 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 from the 1,788-room palace in an open gold-colored, Rolls-Royce stretch limousine for a five-mile parade across the capital, accompanied by 103 limousines and vehicles carrying family members as a marching band played.
A tropical downpour soaked the couple even though footmen walking alongside their vehicle tried to shield them with umbrellas. Thousands of people scurried for cover after catching a glimpse of the motorcade.
“I’m excited to come out and see this, because he will be my new king,” said retiree Abdul Malik Ali.
The Brunei ruling family’s extravagance is legendary, and the sultan was the world’s richest man before the dawn of the high-tech era – and a series of financial blunders blamed on his younger brother, Prince Jefri, in the 1990s, that resulted in an estimated $7 billion in losses.
Associated Press
Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and his new wife, Princess Sarah Salleh, arrive for their wedding banquet Friday in Bandar, Seri Begawan, Brunei.
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