{"id":14107,"date":"2012-09-21T01:09:04","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T01:09:04","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-09-21T01:09:34","modified_gmt":"2012-09-21T01:09:34","slug":"Royal-wedding-in-Brunei-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=14107","title":{"rendered":"Royal wedding in Brunei this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

The daughter of the sultan of Brunei, one of the world’s wealthiest men, is set to wed this weekend in a glittering ceremony at the monarch’s 1,700-room palace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah, 32, and her groom Pengiran Haji Muhammad Ruzaini, 29, exchanged vows yesterday<\/strong> in the tiny oil-rich Muslim sultanate that has been governed for 600 years by the same royal family.<\/p>\n

The couple will then be officially presented to the royal court in an elaborate ceremony on Sunday<\/strong> that marks the climax of more than a week of wedding-related festivities.<\/p>\n

Southeast Asian leaders and foreign royalty were expected to be among the guests at a lavish royal banquet in honor of the newlyweds in the Islamic sultanate Sunday night<\/strong>, hosted by the bride’s father, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 66.<\/p>\n

The palace will not release the full guest list until the day of the banquet, a Brunei government spokesman said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

However, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will attend.<\/p>\n

The princess who has a degree in business administration, is the fifth child of the sultan and Queen Saleha and works as an officer at the finance ministry.<\/p>\n

The groom is a civil servant in the prime minister’s office.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sultan has 12 children, five sons and seven daughters, from his three marriages, and the wedding is the first involving one of the sultan’s children since 2007.<\/p>\n

Such weddings are typically a rare source of excitement in Brunei<\/strong>, which is known for its slow pace of life and lack of nightlife, with alcohol being largely banned under Islamic practice.<\/p>\n

The energy wealth has brought Brunei’s citizens, who number fewer than 400,000, one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia.<\/strong><\/p>\n