On Monday 14 August, 31-year-old Princess Tunku Tun Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah of Johor married 28-year-old Dutchman Dennis Muhammad Abdullah in public and private ceremonies in Johor Bahru.
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The couple began celebrations with a private solemnisation ceremony which was attended by family and close friends. They then participated in a “sitting-in-state” ceremony at the grand palace which was attended by 1,2000 members of the public and broadcast on a large screen at Dataran Bandaraya, a city square.
Distinguished guests in attendance included the Sultan of Brunei, the Malaysian Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, the Dutch ambassador to Kuala Lumpur and representatives of the royal families of Selangor, Perak and Pahang.
During the ceremony, the bride received a blessing from her father and the newlyweds were sprinkled with yellow rice and scented water as a symbol of their family members approval of the union. The palace grounds and streets of Johor Bahru saw frantic preparations in the lead-up to the royal wedding as excitement mounted. There was also an increase of security given the fact that the bride is a member of the rich and powerful royal family of Malaysia’s southern Johor state.
The bride, the second child and only daughter of the Sultan Ibrahim Ismail of Johor, wore an elegant white crown and sparkling jewels and was offered a dowry of 22.50 ringgit (£4), which is in keeping with historic local customs.
The groom was born Dennis Verbaas in a small town near Amsterdam but became Dennis Muhammad Abdullah upon converting to Islam in 2015. He met Princess Tunku Inah in 2014 in a Malaysian café and it’s said that the two shared an “instant chemistry”. Though it was modelling work which took him to Singapore in the first place he left it behind to take a position as marketing manager of Tampines Rovers Football Club before joining a property development firm in Johor.
In a statement released by the Johor Royal Press Office the princess said: “We will move into our own home and start life a new as husband and wife. It will be the first time I will be living alone and away from my parents and family.”
