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Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Celebrates Birthday with Royal Parade


Sun 17 Jul 2022 | 04:37 AM
Taarek Refaat

Brunei celebrated Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's 76th birthday with various activities including a festive parade and a state banquet on Friday (15 July).

The celebration of the Sultan's birthday is an important event in the country's annual calendar, which usually lasts about a month. Friday began with a public holiday and a festive parade.

Citizens from all classes in the country thronged the Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar 'Ali Saifuddien in the capital, the center of royal birthday celebrations to witness the grand parade.

The Sultan attended the grand parade and inspected the royal guard of honor. The parade was followed by state honors and decorations and an official banquet at the Istana Nurul Iman Palace, the royal palace.

Other members of the royal family and high-ranking foreign dignitaries, including Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, also joined the Christmas celebration.

The Sultan is believed to have a staggering net worth of around £30 billion.

The Sultan came to power on October 5, 1967  to become the 29th ruler of the country.

Gold-plated private jets are, of course, part of his inventory of owned extravagant items.

A Boeing 747, valued at around £350 million, has a gold washbasin, windows, gold-lined tables, leather seats and other £100 million extras inside.

Several reports claim that he owns 7,000 luxury cars.

The fleet contains, according to many sources, 365 Ferraris, 275 Lamborghinis, 258 Aston Martins, 172 Bugattis, 230 Porsches, 350 Bentleys, 600 Rolls Royces, 440 Mercedes Benzes, 265 Audis, 237 BMWs, 225 Jaguars and 183 Land Rovers.

Where he stores it is unknown, although some reports suggest he actually rents it out to car collectors to provide additional income.

He was rumored to own more than half of all Ferraris sold between 1990 and 2000.

The Istana Nurul Iman Palace was built in 1984.

Spread over an area of two million square feet, it is the largest venue in the world, according to Guinness World Records.

It comes complete with a 22-karat gold dome, 1,700 rooms, five massive pools, and 257 bathrooms.

It also has 110 garages, which may explain where his impressive fleet of cars is stored.

Some sources said that it had 564 chandeliers and needed 51,000 light bulbs to get the work done.