Sultan Muhammad V And His Russian Wife Of One Year Are Reportedly Divorced
The couple wed in June 2018.
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 17 Jul 2019, 11:13 AM
Sultan of Kelantan Sultan Muhammad V has reportedly divorced his wife, former Russian beauty pageant contestant Rihana Oksana Voevodina after a year of marriage
New Straits Times reported that sources confirmed that the divorce was finalised on 1 July, following the filing of documents at the Singapore Syariah Court on 22 June.
They were reportedly married on 7 June 2018, and held their wedding ceremony on 23 November 2018.
While the cause of the couple's divorce remains unknown, a copy of the divorce certificate that was circulating online revealed that it was a talak tiga divorce
The divorce certificate is confirmed to be genuine by a source, New Straits Times reported.
Known as an irrevocable divorce, a talak tiga divorce is the most severe divorce in Islam - the couple cannot remarry unless the woman marries another and this man, of his own free will, divorces her or dies.
Allegations of a troubled marriage and rumours of an impending divorce emerged as early as January
However, such allegations were denied by Rihana's father, Andrei Ivanovich Gorbatenko.
"It's nonsense. I do not read the Internet, but I would have been the first to know," he said.
After several reports of a divorce emerged in July, referring to Rihana as 'Queen' or other royal titles, the Kelantan palace issued a statement to rebuke the practice of referring to certain individuals as 'Permaisuri of Kelantan', 'Raja Perempuan Kelantan', 'Sultanah Kelantan', or 'Queen of Kelantan' without an official conferment from the palace.
"Yang Teramat Mulia Dr Tengku Muhammad Faiz Petra Ibni Sultan Ismail Petra is the Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan, and His Highness Sultan Muhammad V's mother, Yang Maha Mulia Tengku Anis Almarhum Tengku Abdul Hamid is titled Raja Perempuan Tengku Anis," Kelantan Royal Household Comptroller Datuk Nik Mohd Shafriman Nik Hassan said in the statement.
According to sources, the Kelantan royal family was disturbed by Rihana's Instagram post, in which she expressed hope that her son would one day become the state's crown prince and the "future king of Malaysia"
The post was uploaded on 11 July, nearly two weeks after the couple's divorce was reportedly finalised.
"Such unrefined understanding of royal customs is very unbecoming. You need to be a royal in order to be Raja Perempuan Kelantan," said another source close to the royal circles, New Straits Times reported.
The couple welcomed their first child Tengku Ismail Leon Petra Bin Tengku Muhammad V Faris Petra on 21 May, according to an announcement on Rihana's Instagram.
