The new marriage between the outgoing Malaysian king, 49-year-old Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, and former Miss Moscow, 25-year-old Oksana Voevodina, is on the rocks, according to a number of Russian media reports.
“The fairytale about the Russian Cinderella who married a king is likely to be over… preparing the necessary documents is already underway. The marriage lasted just a couple of months", one Russian Telegram channel, Tolko Nikomu, reported.
Another news source, Russian tabloid Dni.ru conveyed a similar message: “End of the fairytale — Russian wife of Malaysian King is sent back to Moscow".
In a parallel report, celebrity magazine Starhit citing unnamed “insiders” claimed the relationship between the ex-king, who unexpectedly abdicated earlier this month, three years before the end of his term, and the Russian beauty queen had “deteriorated".
There has been no official comment on the state of the pair’s relationship, neither on the reports about their marriage in November, nor about a pending divorce. Meanwhile, the newly-minted wife’s father, Russian orthopaedic surgeon Andrey Gorbatenko, reduced the latter reports to merely rumours saying “it’s nonsense" and adding that he “would have been the first to know". Oksana’s friend also busted the reports saying the model is “doing well", claiming the said reports were based on “fake facts".
The couple’s big day hit the headlines in late November, when photos of a lavish alcohol-free ceremony in the upscale Moscow suburb of Barvikha started circulating around the internet. The rumours gained momentum after the king was reported to have been on vacation “for treatment” since early November, which was believed by many to be a prolonged honeymoon.
Prior to that, the Russian woman, who partook in a variety of modelling projects in China and Thailand after grabbing the Miss Moscow crown in 2015, converted to Islam in spring 2018, with photos of her in a Muslim headscarf eagerly reposted online.
Fresh reports have claimed that the couple is now expecting their first child after they were supposedly seen entering a German reproduction clinic.
Muhammad V became the first ever bachelor sultan to have been crowned, in line with a unique Malay rotation system, which stipulates that nine ethnic Malay state rulers take turns serving as Malaysia's king for five-year terms each. He had earlier been married to a Thai princess, whom he divorced after the woman failed to give birth to an heir. The council of rulers reportedly denounced the king’s second marriage, with local media citing royal insiders that this is the real reason for the king’s unexpected resignation, as the rulers’ council refused to give a royal title to Voevodina, despite her embracing Islam.
Since Muhammad V’s abdication in early January, less than two months after his reported wedding, a new, next-in-line sultan has been appointed as King, Sultan Abdullah, as it was confirmed by the keeper of the ruler's seal Syed Danial Syed Ahmad. Oxford-educated Sultan Abdullah, a key figure in several international sports bodies including FIFA, was elected last Thursday and will be crowned on January 31.
