Brunei’s polo-playing Prince Abdul Mateen, one of Asia’s most eligible bachelors, married his commoner fiancée on Thursday as part of a lavish 10-day celebration in the oil-rich sultanate.
An Islamic marriage ceremony for the 32-year-old prince and Yang Mulia Anisha Rosnah, 29, was held inside a gold-domed mosque in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan.
Mateen is the 10th child of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah — the world’s longest reigning monarch and once the richest man on the planet — and is well down the succession pecking order.
His bride, who is the granddaughter of one of his father’s key advisers, reportedly has a fashion brand and co-owns a tourism business.
Mateen, wearing a traditional white outfit decorated with diamond-shaped motifs and a matching headpiece, was driven to the mosque in a luxury saloon.
He sat on an elevated yellow cushion in front of an imam, who presided over the male-only ceremony attended by the sultan and other relatives and guests.
Afterward, Mateen approached his father and kissed his hand.
Celebrations for the royal wedding will reach their climax on Sunday with a glittering ceremony in the 1,788-room palace and an elaborate procession.
The guest list is expected to include international royalty and political leaders.
“It’s like a fairytale,” university student Syahida Wafa Mohamed Shah, 22, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, near the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, where the marriage was solemnized.
Many Bruneians plan to line the streets on Sunday to watch the royal newlyweds take part in a procession.
“It’s like something from a movie,” said Nazatul Izzati Saifulrizal, 19.
The pomp and pageantry of the royal extravaganza highlights the tiny country’s extreme wealth, which is almost entirely derived from its enormous oil reserves.
A sliver of land on the northern edge of Borneo island in Southeast Asia, Brunei was influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism before its rulers converted to Islam in the 14th century.
It fell under British rule in the 19th century and gained independence in 1984.
An absolute monarchy with strict Islamic laws and a population of only about 450,000 people, Brunei is one of the world’s richest countries.
The International Monetary Fund puts Brunei’s annual gross domestic product per capita at nearly $36,000. But analysts have warned that the country faces serious challenges to diversify its economy away from oil, as crude prices remain volatile and its reserves dwindle.
While the sultan has long lost the title of the world’s richest man to tech billionaires, his wealth remains the stuff of legend.
He is reported to have a vast collection of luxury vehicles, and his riverside official residence is one of the world’s largest palaces.
While Mateen is unlikely to ever ascend the throne, his matinee idol looks and huge following on social media have made him one of the highest-profile members of the royal family.
A helicopter pilot in his country’s air force, he has often been compared in the media with the United Kingdom’s Prince Harry and was previously dubbed the “hot royal.”