Golden Soul: the luxurious life of the Sultan of Brunei

A huge palace, its own air fleet and thousands of expensive cars in the garage is not a fairy tale, but part of the huge fortune of the Sultan of Brunei. He ranks second among the richest monarchs in the world and eats only from golden plates. Luxury, which is stunning in its scope, reigns in his life in everything: from haircuts to an exclusive private jet.

Look and be surprised at what scale the sultan's fantasy can reach, who has untold riches.

The fortune of the Sultan of Brunei is estimated at 15 billion pounds (1.28 trillion rubles). In the ranking of the richest rulers in the world, he ranks second after the King of Thailand.

In early April 2019, the head of the Muslim state was included in the list of the most ardent persecutors of people with non-traditional sexual orientation: he officially announced that from now on Sharia laws are being introduced in Brunei, according to which homosexuality will be stoned.

Other barbaric laws in Brunei include cutting off hands and feet for theft, as well as punishing Muslims with whips for drinking alcohol.

These inhuman orders caused a storm of indignation among the world community. George Clooney, for example, staged a boycott of the Brunei Sultan and no longer stays in hotels owned by him. But this is unlikely to affect the monarch's huge fortune, which increases by 80 pounds (about 7000 rubles) per second thanks to the profit from oil sales.

72-year-old Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has ruled a country rich in oil deposits for 52 years. He met with many monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Prince Philip.He is well known for his addiction to expensive cars, the cost of which sometimes reaches 10 million pounds (860 million rubles). In addition to cool wheelbarrows, the sultan has a whole collection of mansions and palaces, and the monarch flies on private planes decorated with pure gold elements.

The extravagant Sultan spends 19,000 pounds (1.6 million rubles) on a haircut from his favorite stylist who lives outside Brunei. The ruler arrives to him on a private plane.

The Muslim head of Brunei loves weddings. He himself took three of his marriage ceremonies off, spending millions on each of them.

In 1965, the young monarch married for the first time his cousin Pengiran Anak Saleh, who bore him six children, including the heir to the throne, the crowned Prince Al-Muhtadi.

Polygamy is legal in Brunei, so the sultan married for the second time, but Anak Salehe remains his first wife and is considered the queen.

He met his second wife, Mariam Abdul Aziz, when she worked as a flight attendant on international airlines, and married her in 1982.

In 2003, the Sultan divorced Mariam, the mother of his four children, and stripped her of all royal titles before marrying for the third time.

Despite the fact that the sultan is the father of 12 children, he is very picky when it comes to the marriage of his offspring. Five luxurious weddings of native krovinushki were celebrated for a week and cost about 5 million pounds (430 million rubles) each.

When his eldest son, the heir to the throne, married 17-year-old Sarah Salleh, the bride was shod in louboutins encrusted with real diamonds, with heels made of pure gold.

At the wedding of the eldest daughter, Princess Rashidah, Whitney Houston herself sang, who flew specially for this celebration. The Sultan paid 5.5 million pounds (about 473 million rubles) for her performance.

But all this pales before the scale with which the rich monarch celebrated his 50th birthday in 1996. The celebration cost the generous Sultan 20 million pounds (1.7 billion rubles). During the holiday, a polo match was held, and at a chic festive dinner for 3000 guests, beluga caviar and champagne were served - as much as the soul desired. At the end of the celebration, each guest was presented with a medal made of pure gold as a souvenir.The ruler paid Michael Jackson 14 million pounds (120.5 million rubles) for three concerts to celebrate his anniversary.

The house of the 29th Sultan of Brunei is located in the Instana Nurul Iman Palace. It is the largest royal residence in the world. The luxurious building was built for two years and it costs 1 billion pounds (86 billion rubles). The stunning complex consists of 1788 rooms and 257 bathrooms.

Inside the palace, everything is decorated with gold and diamonds. On the territory of the residence there are five swimming pools, a banquet hall for 5,000 guests and a mosque for 1,500 people.

Even 200 pony horses enjoy luxurious conditions: they live in a stable with full air conditioning.The Sultan of Brunei has real estate in London: St John's Lodge complex in Regents Park, which consists of three interconnected mansions and is considered the most expensive in the capital. The residence was bought in 1994 for 40 million pounds (3.4 billion rubles), and now its value has increased to 110 million pounds (9.5 billion rubles). It is considered the most expensive private house in the UK.

The fabulously rich monarch has estates in Australia and the USA - in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The Sultan is a generous person, so he often gives real estate worth millions to his relatives.

The value of the collection of cars of the ruler of Brunei is 5 billion pounds (430 billion rubles). Among 7000 expensive cars, you can see 500 luxury Mercedes, 450 Ferrari, 380 Bentley, more than 100 Koenigsegg, 21 Lamborghini, 11 Aston Martin, 179 Jaguar, 600 Rolls Royce and 209 BMW.

The pinnacle of this automotive splendor is the Silver Spur Limo, decorated with pure gold. It is used for royal wedding ceremonies.The pearl of the Sultan's fleet collection is a Boeing 747 decorated with real gold and diamonds, inside which there is a living room, a bedroom and bathrooms with gold washbasins. The cost of this aircraft is 233 million pounds (20 billion rubles).

All this luxurious household is closely watched by two housekeepers who receive a salary of 7 million pounds (602 million rubles) each.

You can't forbid living beautifully, especially if you are sitting on a sultan's throne made of pure gold. Fabulous wealth, which is difficult for an ordinary person to imagine— is a daily routine for the ruler of Brunei. Born a sultan - plebeian can not be.