A ten-day wedding? Just stand there!
In Brunei, the royals are not looking at a billion more or less, which is why expectations are high for the upcoming wedding of Prince Abdul Mateen of Brunei (32) and his fiancée Anisha Rosnah Isa-Kalebic (29). The wedding will be celebrated from January 7 to 16. A royal war of attrition!
Ten day wedding
It starts on the 7th with the ‘Majlis Istiadat Bersuruh Diraja’, or the Official Royal Proposal. Four days later the ‘Akad Nikah’, the religious blessing, follows. The highlight of the festivities is the ‘Majlis Bersanding Pengantin Diraja’, the grand bridal party at the Royal Palace on January 14. The bridal couple then rides in a procession through the capital. The day after, the party will end with a banquet and Mateen and Anisha will probably be ready for a few days of peace and privacy.
Business card
Mateen grew up in one of the richest royal families in the world, has a six-pack that he shares moodily but generously on Instagram, has an almost endless collection of British tailor-made suits from Savile Row and plays polo at a high level. One moment he is looking photogenic with the Eiffel Tower in the background, a moment later he is socializing with heads of state, then he is sailing across Lake Como in a classic speedboat – he is at home in all markets.
He is also the calling card for the country. For example, his father, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, regularly takes him to major international events. As the sixth in line to the throne, he appears more often than the actual next in line, the 49-year-old Al-Muhtadee Billah.
The prince is a busy owner, he has an assistant who often follows him by Segway to arrange things for him with a phone to his ear. In Mateen’s palace, located on the complex of the Istana Nurul Izzah palace, in addition to cats, big cats such as panther Oscar walk around as pets. He is particularly fond of Kawan, who came to him as a cub and is now a fully grown, pampered tiger who still wants to sit on his lap.
Golden wedding
His bride Anisha Rosnah Isa-Kalebic is the granddaughter of an important advisor to the sultan. Like Mateen, she studied in London and is a modern Muslim woman who decides for herself when she wears a headscarf and, judging by her Insta, has already seen quite a bit of the world. Mateen and Anisha have known each other for years, friends say they are a good match in character and humor, although Anisha is not as much of an adrenaline junkie as her fiancé.
There was already speculation about an engagement in January 2023 when she was spotted wearing a ring at the wedding of Mateen’s sister, Princess Azemah. As family members said at the time, “She’s next.”
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And now she is indeed the bride and leading lady herself during the seemingly endless wedding that will take place in different locations. The big party at the Istana Nurul Iman will be the most spectacular. This is the official residence of the sultan and also the largest palace in the world with Islamic-looking minarets and golden domes as well as Asian vaulted roofs.
It is located in the greenery on the river, has a private zoo with about thirty Bengal tigers and has 1,788 rooms including 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall that can accommodate 5,000 guests and its own mosque with space for 1,500 worshipers. To give you an impression of the home decor: kilometers of marble, 564 chandeliers, tons of gold leaf, 51,000 lamps, 44 stairs and 11 elevators make life quite bearable for the royals.
Earthier
It’s funny that despite all that obvious opulence, Mateen keeps insisting in interviews that he is a simple person. Albeit one with private jets, yachts and stays in five-star hotels. In Anisha he has a partner who has more experience with real life.
She is an enterprising lady with her own fashion label (Silk Collective) and, together with a friend, runs a tourist-oriented company called Authentirary. Just like Mateen, she is sporty, but she also loves good cooking and sometimes vlogs about it.
The prince once said that as far as he is concerned, a partner is “someone who is real, sincere, and likes simple things.” And so he found it. Let’s hope she can handle a tiger on the couch.
This article is an excerpt of a deep dive into Brunei’s royals from the latest Glamial. Here you will also find interviews with, among others, Isa Hoes, Eva Simons, and Stacey Rookhuizen.
Text: Ella Vermeulen | Image: NL Image
