The Brunei monarchy made headlines recently after the Sultan of Brunei sensationally stripped his daughter-in-law, Pengiran Raabi’atul Adawiyyah, of her royal titles.
A statement claimed that “the revocation was carried out following conduct by Pengiran Raabi’atul Adawiyyah that was deemed unbecoming of a spouse of a member of the royal family”.
It added: “Her actions were also found to have tarnished the monarchy’s good name and demonstrated a lack of respect towards Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.“
However, Pengiran isn’t the first royal that the Sultan has stripped of their titles. The royal has been married three times, firstly to Pengiran Anak Saleha, the current Queen of Brunei. Following their marriage, he would go on to take on two additional wives, Mariam Abdul Aziz and Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim.
When he divorced them, he stripped them of their royal titles. But who are these women? Here’s everything you need to know about the former royals…
Who is Mariam Abdul Aziz?
Mariam married the Sultan of Brunei, being taken as his second wife, with the pair walking down the aisle in 1981, 16 years after he married the Queen of Brunei.
Mariam was working as a flight attendant when she first met the Sultan of Brunei in 1980. The pair married a year later in a private ceremony, although the Sultan’s father disapproved of their relationship, due to Mariam’s status as a mixed-race commoner.
Upon her marriage, Mariam gained the title of Her Royal Highness Princess Consort Mariam binti Abdul Aziz.
She welcomed four children with the Sultan, Prince Abdul Azim, Princess Azemah, Princess Fadzilah and Prince Abdul Mateen. The family suffered heartbreak in 2020 when eldest child, Abdul Azim, died at the age of 38.
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe late royal’s cause of death was confirmed to be multiple organ failure due to severe systemic vasculitis, an illness that can lead to the narrowing of blood vessels.
After being married for 22 years, on 2 February 2003, the Sultan confirmed that he was divorcing Mariam. No reason was given for the divorce, and following the split, Mariam was stripped of her previous royal titles.
Who is Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim?
In 2005, the Sultan of Brunei took on Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim, who was born in Malaysia, as his junior wife, with the pair marrying in a private ceremony on 20 August 2005. The news of the marriage was leaked two days after the pair married, with the royal court confirming the marriage two days after the leaking.
Before marrying the Sultan, Azrinaz worked as a broadcast journalist in her home country, presenting on TV3, even earning the network’s award for Most Promising Journalist a year after her debut. Three months before she married the Sultan, she left the station.
© Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesUpon her marriage, she gained the title of Her Royal Highness Princess Consort Azrinaz Mazhar.
During their marriage, the Sultan and Azrinaz welcomed two children, Prince Abdul Wakeel and Princess Ameerah Wardatul.
© Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesOn 16 June 2010, the Sultan said that the pair had split for “special reasons”, and Azrinaz was subsequently stripped of her royal titles. Since the divorce, she has claimed that she has been unable to see the two children that she shares with the royal.
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