The fairytale wedding of the Prince of Brunei, 10 days of celebration and 5 thousand guests

The fairytale wedding of the Prince of Brunei

Big party in Brunei, the ultra-conservative and very rich microstate, located in the north of the island of Borneo: the celebrations for the wedding of one of Asia's golden bachelors have reached the culmination of 10 days of celebrations. A sumptuous and practically unparalleled wedding in terms of pomp and munificence. The prince, Abdul Mateen, 32, and his wife Yang Mulia Anisha Rosnah, a 29-year-old beauty, a childhood friend as she is the granddaughter of one of the sultan's advisors, were married on Thursday, in a golden-domed mosque in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan . But today they participated in a sumptuous ceremony, the culmination of the celebrations that have been going on for days. Today the prince and his wife appeared at Istana Nur, the enormous, sumptuous palace that is the sultan's official residence: it is considered the largest palace in the world, still used as a monarch's residence; and the sultan's family resides on approximately 200,000 square meters of living space, in over 1700 rooms.

The pomp of the wedding testifies to the extreme wealth of this small piece of land, which has less than half a million inhabitants, draws its opulence almost essentially from its enormous oil reserves and has an annual GDP per capita among the highest on the planet (32,700 euros , according to the IMF). The sultan has long been considered the richest man in the world and fueled his legend not only with his palace, but also with his vast collection of luxury cars. The prince – an unrepentant bachelor who publicly presented his bride only shortly before the wedding – is not even the heir to the throne of the rich monarchy: he is the son of a second wife of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, from whom he later divorced to remarry a third time. However, he was one of the most sought-after bachelors in Asia, considered 'Brunei's Prince Harry': Very popular on social media, Prince Abdul Mateen has a huge following on social media, so much so that he has become one of the most prominent members of the royal family .

Also because in recent years he has played an increasingly important role in international diplomacy, for example accompanying his father to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of Charles III and Queen Camilla last May. Among the 5,000 guests today were representatives of the royal families of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Bhutan, but also several regional leaders, namely Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr Handsome, good-looking, with studies in prestigious schools (King's College in London), polo player and air force helicopter pilot, the prince is perfect for projecting to the outside the glamorous image of a country that wants to present itself as a fascinating monarchy but it has a dramatic human rights reality: for adultery and homosexuals, in Brunei, according to Sharia, the death penalty by stoning is foreseen.

Subscribe to the newsletter