A Russian beauty queen has married the king of Malaysia after she converted to Islam for him.
Oksana Voevodina, a 25-year-old former Miss Moscow, married Malaysia’s Muhammad V of Kelantan, 49, in a ceremony in the Russian capital on November 22.
The beauty queen won her title in 2015, and has previously worked as a model in China and Thailand. Now, however, she is the first lady of Malaysia – married to the king who is known as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, referred to as ‘Your Majesty’, but whose full name is Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra ibni Tengku Ismail Petra.
The wedding ceremony took place in a lavish concert hall in the affluent Moscow suburb of Barvikha.
The Malaysian king has been on the throne since 2016, when he succeeded from his father. The newly-weds have not disclosed how they met.
Before the wedding, Oksana said:
When I was at school I was a kind of bandit. I liked some skaters, bikes, VMX, guys who took part in competitions. I love riding a bike too.
Speaking about her views on marriage, she said:
I think that the man must be the head of the family and of course shall not earn less than a woman.
The wedding was literally a ceremony fit for a king, who was dressed in traditional Malaysian national clothes, while the bride wore a white dress.
The new first lady of Malaysia is reported to have converted to Islam in April this year, and has taken the name Rihana Oxana Gorbatenko, MailOnline reports.
The 25-year-old became Miss Moscow in 2015. Before that, she had graduated from the Faculty of Business, at the elite Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Speaking about becoming a beauty queen, Oksana said:
I was the tallest in my class (at school) and the most slim, and I was a bit worried about that. Only when I was at university, did I realise that this was my strong side.
Young guys started to pay attention and I realised that they looked at me more often than at fat and not very tall girls.
Her relationship with the Malaysian king is a relatively new one, as she was single at the time of winning the title of Miss Moscow.
Speaking at the time, she said:
I do not have a boyfriend. And I think that it would be harder for me to win, if I had, because every boyfriend, if he let his girl go to the beauty contest, she won’t be his girlfriend anymore.
Because she will get lots of attention, secondly she doesn’t have any time for a private life and finally I think it will be a distraction.
I will have the relations when my heart will tell. So far it is silent.
It seems, then, that her heart has spoken up.
The Malaysian king was educated at Oakham School in Rutland, England, before studying at St Cross College at Oxford University, and later attending the European Business School in London.
Congratulations to the happy couple!
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.