Dignitaries and blue bloods from around the world began arriving yesterday for what is expected to be Asia’s wedding of the year.
Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah — the absolute and fabulously wealthy ruler of his 350,000 subjects — is to marry 17-year-old commoner Sarah Salleh today.
Mrs. Arroyo said she will take the opportunity to seek Brunei’s help in the ongoing peace negotiations between her administration and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been waging a decades-long rebellion to establish an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.
Brunei is a member of the influential Organization of Islamic Countries. Fellow OIC member Malaysia is brokering the talks.
Mrs. Arroyo and her husband will return to the country on Saturday.
The ceremony tops off two weeks of official celebrations taking place in one of the region’s smallest countries, which shares Borneo island with Malaysia and Indonesia.
The crown prince was educated at Oxford. His bride is "known among her teachers and friends for her grace, intelligence and positive attitude," the official wedding booklet says.
Huge billboards showing the couple lined the streets of the usually sleepy capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, where a parade was scheduled after the wedding ceremony at the 1,788-room main palace.
The couple will sit on a royal dais for a traditional Muslim wedding ritual before invited guests, after which they are to parade across the capital in a carriage, accompanied by 105 limousines carrying royal family members.
Many businesses prominently displayed their well-wishes for the couple. Some said they were pressured to so, but Bruneians are reluctant to speak ill of the sultan and his family, who have ruled behind a veil of secrecy for more than 500 years.
Among the dignitaries expected at the wedding are Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito, Bahrain’s King Hamad, the Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia and most of Malaysia’s royalty.
Naruhito left for Brunei yesterday but his wife, Crown Princess Masako, stayed behind. The Imperial Household Agency said in July that Masako, 40, has experienced bouts of depression and anxiety and was undergoing treatment.
Other guests include President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia and Prime Ministers Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia and Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.
Elder statesmen Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore also were among the 6,000 people invited from around the world.
"The airport hasn’t been this busy in a while and there are many guests who will come and see our country," said Amin Subehi, a worker at Brunei International Airport.