Malaysian king abdicates ‘after wedding Russian beauty queen’
MALAYSIA’S Oxford- educated king abdicated yesterday after reportedly marrying a former Russian beauty queen half his age.
Sultan Muhammad V, 49, wed 25-year-old Oksana Voevodina, a former Miss Moscow, at a ceremony in the Russian capital.
The king, pictured below, took leave at the start of November for two months on ‘health grounds’, and photographs later emerged showing them marrying.
The wedding was said to be alcohol-free and the food was halal in accordance with Islam, Malaysia’s official religion.
The king was dressed in national clothes, while his bride wore a white and silver gown and had ten bridesmaids. An image of her in a hijab was posted on Twitter. The pair are said to have met in Europe 18 months ago while she promoted watches. She converted to Islam last April and took the Muslim name Rihana. Before the wedding Miss Voevodina told friends: ‘I think that the man must be the head of the family and of course shall not earn less than a woman.’
The marriage on November 22 has not been confirmed by the Malaysian national palace, which gave no reasons for the king giving up his throne. Reports claimed the former monarch is ‘very much concerned’ about starting a family, because his first marriage ended in divorce with no children.
It is the first time a king has abdicated in the Muslim-majority country since it gained independence from Britain in 1957.