B R U N E I RULER

General Haji Sir Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah GCB GCMG (born 15 July 1946) is the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan ofBrunei Darussalam, the 29th Sultan of Brunei and the first Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam. He was the eldest son of Omar Ali Saifuddien III, the previous Sultan of Brunei, and Pengiran Anak Damit. He is the head of a US$140 billion empire

Under Brunei's 1959 constitution, the Sultan is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers since 1962. On 9 March 2006, the Sultan was reported to have changed Brunei's constitution to make himself infallible under Bruneian law.^[1] Bolkiah is also thePrime Minister as well as holding the portfolios of Minister of Defence and Finance.

As Minister of Defence he is also the Supreme Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces; an Honorary General in the British and Indonesian armed forces and an Honorary Admiral of the Fleet in the British Navy. He appointed himself as Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Royal Brunei Police Force.

He addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Brunei Darussalam's admission to theUnited Nations in September, 1984. In 1991, he introduced a conservative ideology to Brunei called Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB) (or Malay Islamic Monarchy), which presents the monarchy as the defender of the faith.^[2] He has recently favoured Brunei government democratisation and declared himself Prime Minister and President. In 2004, the Legislative Council, which had been dissolved since 1962, was reopened.^[3]

His designated successor is his eldest son, Al-Muhtadee Billah.

He was born on 15 July 1946 in Brunei Town (now called Bandar Seri Begawan). He became crown prince in 1961 and sultan on 5 October 1967, after his father abdicated voluntarily. His coronation was held on 1 August 1968. Like his father, he has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, of which Brunei was a protectorate until 1984.

The Sultan received high school education in Malaysia's premier school Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, where he joined the Cadet Corps (band). After receiving a private education in Brunei, the Sultan attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in October 1967 but returned home to be the Crown Prince few months before graduation.

Despite his personal extravagance, he has attempted to share the country's oil wealth. In Brunei, mockingly dubbed the "Shellfare State", a reference to the significant influence of theShell Oil Company,^[5][6] Bruneians have free education and medical services. There are neither personal nor corporate taxes in Brunei.

His official residence is the Istana Nurul Iman, with 1,888 rooms, 290 bathrooms, and a floor area of 2,152,782 sq ft (200,000 m²), undisputedly the world's second largest palace after Beijing's Forbidden City (720,000 m²). The Istana is an official residence with offices housing the Offices of the Sultan and Yang DiPertuam, Grand Chamberlain's office, many istana departments like protocol, istana household and finance departments and offices of the Prime Minister's Department. Some offices of the Ministry of Defence and Ministries of Finance are also functional there as the Sultan is the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. The Crown Prince, who is the Senior Minister, also works from offices at the istana. Hyatt Borneo Management Services and HM The Sultan's flight also maintain offices there.

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he Sultan currently has one wife, with Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha being designated his first wife. His former second wife, Pengiran Isteri Hajah Mariam, was a former stewardess for the national carrier, Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) whom he divorced in 2003, stripping her of all her royal titles. In August 2005 her place was taken by a former MalaysianTV3 presenter, Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim, who is 33 years younger than the Sultan. They divorced in 2010.^[7]

Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah is the crown prince and the Sultan's heir, the eldest son of the Sultan and Pengiran Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha, his first wife. As of 2008, Hassanal Bolkiah has five sons and seven daughters with his three wives

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