The world’s largest and most expensive palace is neither the Buckingham Palace of the British family, nor the palace of the Saudi King, nor the palace of the rich man of Qatar. Rather, it is present in a small country in Asia, Brunei. A small empire whose sultan is one of the richest and most powerful people in the world, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
The gold in his palace is so common that every corner of the palace is filled with it. Doors, walls, chairs and tables. Precious gold shines everywhere.
But Brunei is not just the name of wealth. It is an empire where every road opens a new secret. A place where the will of the Sultan is the law and where the great powers of the world become silent before his command.
Brunei is a small but rich country with natural resources. Where the ruler Hassanal Bolkiah is the owner of such a personality which is a living proof of secrecy, glory and power.
Since 1967, he has been the sole owner of the throne of Brunei. And after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he has now become the king who ruled for the longest time in the world. This story is not just about time, but about the wealth that ordinary people cannot even think of.
Many international sources have reported that Hassanal Bolkiah’s personal net worth is more than 30 billion dollars. And these are very careful estimates. No one has been able to know about his real wealth yet.
Behind his grandeur and luxury lifestyle are the oil and gas reserves of Brunei, which are hidden under the ground like gold. Every barrel of oil and every drop of gas adds another zero to the Sultan’s wealth. But the Sultan of Brunei is not one of those royal families who hide their wealth.
He has the world’s largest private car collection, which surprisingly has 7,000 cars. This is not an ordinary collection, but it has 600 Rolls Royces, 450 Ferraris and 3,880 Bentleys. And the most unique piece of this collection is a 24-carat gold-plated Rolls Royce Silver, which the Guinness Book of World Records has listed as the most expensive car in the world.
A car that not only shines, but also shows a glimpse of the Sultan’s expensive hobby. The price of the Sultan’s car collection is estimated to be around 5 billion dollars. If you look at the sky apart from the ground passengers, their private jet fleet is no less than anyone else.
A gold-plated Boeing 747-400, which costs about 40 billion dollars. But the Sultan does not use it as a plane, but as a flying palace. Crystal chandeliers, gold washbasins and luxury interiors have been spent 12 billion dollars separately.
And all this is not just comfort, but also a means of showing people this power and money. It does not end here. The Sultan had also gifted his daughter a private jet in a growing gift.
In total, the Sultan has 17 airplanes, which are his private collection. And a lot of gold has been used in each aircraft. For this reason, the Sultan of Brunei is also known as the emperor of the sky.
There are many other interesting aspects of the Sultan’s personality. Like he is a certified pilot of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. And he calls his favorite barber from London to Brunei and spends $21,000 on just one haircut.
This is a small sample of his luxury lifestyle. The Sultan is also an art collector who bought the famous French painter Renoir’s painting for $7 billion. He is so open-handed in spending that he spent $3 billion on his 50th birthday party in 1996.
In which Michael Jackson was paid $250 million for his performance. During this time, a two-week holiday was made in the country and a new stadium was built for this occasion. In which 60,000 royal guests from all over the world participated.
But the real surprise was that the royal guests who came to the birthday party were given real gold medals. If we talk about the palace, it was designed by Filipino architect Leandro Loxins. While the interior design was designed by Juan Chiu.
Who also designed the famous Burj Al Arab. In 1984, $150 million was spent on the construction of this palace. Just as much as was spent on the construction of Burj Khalifa.
This palace, which is called Noorul Iman, is also three times larger than the Versailles Palace in Paris. Surprisingly, it has 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall for 5,000 guests, a mosque, a garage for 110 cars, an air-conditioned stable for 200 polo ponies, and 5 swimming pools. And the most special thing is that its dome is made of 22 carat gold.
Every corner of the palace tells the story of glory and splendor. Gold and marble floors, doors and walls. This palace has a total of more than 550 gold chandeliers and 18 elevators.
It is said that the Sultan’s palace is not a palace but a whole small city. This palace, which is called Istana Noorul Iman, has a total of 17 floors. And its total floor area is spread over 2.1 million square feet.
Now here you must be wondering how the Sultan and his family go from one place to another in such a big palace. Electric golf carts are used in the palace for this purpose. This palace is not only the house of the Sultan, but also the headquarters of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Brunei Government.
All major decisions of the country are made from here. Sultan Hassan al-Bulkiya is not only the richest king, he is also the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Home Minister. The constitutional amendments of 2004 strengthened his powers.
He has been given a higher position than the law, whether it is his government status or personal. Now here you must be thinking that Brunei will be a liberal country, but it is not. The most important aspect of his government is to implement the Sharia law.
In 2019, the Sultan implemented the Islamic law completely. Under this law, the adultery and homosexuality perpetrator is sentenced to death by stoning. While there are also punishments such as cutting hands for stealing.
This step became a target of strict criticism all over the world. As a result, protests were also recorded outside the Sultan’s luxury hotels in London and Paris. Alcohol and pork are strictly prohibited in Brunei, but it is also illegal to consume tobacco here.
The fatwas can only be issued by the government, and making fun of their fatwas is also a criminal offense. All men must attend the Friday prayer here. And it is obligatory on all women to wear their clothes in such a way that the whole body is covered.
Despite all these restrictions, some things are absolutely free in Brunei, such as education and medical. There is no income tax here. This is why many citizens here love their Sultan and call him the Sultan of the people.
They believe that Sharia law has kept the country peaceful and has reduced the percentage of crime. But many people find this country very boring and they go to Miri, a city in Malaysia, for a little freedom. Where alcohol and a free atmosphere are found.
Sultan Hassan al-Bulkiya’s personality has also been the victim of many controversies. He was accused of being involved in private parties with his brother Jafri. In 1997, Miss USA Shanoon Markitic filed a case against the Sultan and his brother, claiming that he was made a hostage and forced to do wrong things.
But the U.S. court did not give any decision against the Sultan due to sovereign immunity. This shows that he is a rich and powerful man. In addition, there was another scandal in the 1990s, which is called the Amandio Crisis.
Prince Jafri al-Bulkiya, the younger brother of the Sultan of Brunei, was accused of misusing billions of dollars of royal wealth. He spent money on luxury yachts, private jets, and thousands of expensive cars like water. Because of this, Brunei’s reputation was shaken and tensions arose in Brunei’s royal family.
Finally, the Sultan took control of his brother and made him the king of the country. Brunei is such an empire where one part tells the story of luxury, and the other part applies strict Islamic law. But apart from all this, there are some facts that you may not have heard about Brunei before.
The word Brunei actually means that’s it. Its full name is Negira Brunei Darussalam, where Negira means country and Darussalam means a place to live in peace. The oil and gas coming out of Brunei runs 90% of the country’s economy.
In World War II, Japan occupied Brunei due to oil shortages, and then the British released it from Japan. In 2013, Brunei became the first Asian country to ban shark finning. Education is given a lot in Brunei.
And the literacy rate here is better than many countries in the world, which is close to 98%. The currency here is Brunei Dollars, which can also run in Singapore. Kampong Ayer, also known as Venice of the East, is an ancient settlement built on the water on the Brunei River, which shows a glimpse of Brunei’s ancient culture.