Mahathir can't confirm if Malaysian King has married

Published : Nov 30, 2018 - 13:47 Updated : Nov 30, 2018 - 13:47

KUALA LUMPUR (The Straits Times/ANN) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday (Nov 29) that he could not confirm that Malaysia's King, Sultan Muhammad V, was recently married, as widely reported and discussed on social media in the past week.

According to online reports and supposed pictures of the wedding ceremony, the 49-year-old ruler was married earlier this month to former Moscow beauty queen Oksana Voevodina, 25.

"I don't have the name or official confirmation. I can't say anything," Tun Mahathir told reporters in Parliament, when asked about the rumours.

Malaysia's national palace Istana Negara has not issued any statement to confirm or deny the matter, despite keen interest in Malaysia and on social media.

(Star TV screen capture)

According to MailOnline, the Web version of British newspaper Daily Mail, on Thursday, the wedding took place on Nov 22 in a concert hall in Moscow.

Sultan Muhammad V was elected Malaysia's King in April 2017, in a unique rotational monarchy system involving the nine Malay royal houses.

He will be Yang di-Pertuan Agong (His Majesty), as the ceremonial Malaysian King is officially called, for five years. The post is then passed to another Malay-state ruler.

Sultan Muhammad V, who is from Kelantan, was known as Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra ibni Tengku Ismail Petra before his ascension.

According to social media reports, Ms Voevodina won the Miss Moscow 2015 title.

In 2004, Malaysia's The Star newspaper reported that the Sultan, then the Crown Prince of Kelantan, had married Ms Kangsadal Pipitpakdee, 24.

She is a descendant of Muslim royalty in Pattani province, southern Thailand. He was 35 then.

It was unclear what happened to his marriage to the Thai woman. When the ruler became Agong last year, making him the 15th King, the media reported that he was the first King to reign without a queen consort.