A friend of Miss Moscow 2015 Oksana Voevodina, rumoured to have divorced Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V, has dismissed the claims by the Singaporean lawyer representing the royal, saying that “there is no objective evidence as yet as to the biological father” of her newborn child. Lilia Nastayeva, cited by the Russian outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda, branded his statements “nonsense” and stated that Oksana’s parents, family and friends are waiting for his public apologies.
“If Faris [as Voevodina’s family reportedly refers to her former royal husband] has any suspicions, he can always have the DNA test done, Oksana is ready, for her part – I’m saying this as her closest friend. If Oksana had shown her baby’s face, nobody would have had doubts as the son is a copy of his father”, Voevodina’s friend told the Russian outlet.
Nastayeva has confirmed that her friend, who changed her name to Rihana Oksana Petra and converted to Islam in order to marry the former king, is now living in the Moscow Region. According to the insider, she is a devoted mother to her baby son.
At the same time, her lawyer Evgeny Tarlo has denounced rumours about Voevodina’s cheating on her husband or claims about her son’s paternity as “absolute lies and dirty insinuations”.
“These are tabloid speculations, and I know where it all comes from. There has been no divorce… Regarding paternity: what can one say? It’s them, who should prove that the baby is someone else’s son, not us, defending ourselves”, he said to the Russian media, also adding that Oksana is being used as an instrument amid power games following her husband’s resignation and promising that everything would be settled by the end of this autumn.
The Singaporean lawyer representing the ex-monarch earlier fuelled the speculations around the sad end of the Cinderella-like story and confirmed that the ex-monarch had indeed divorced his Russian wife. According to The Straits Times, Koh Tien Hua from Eversheds Harry Elias revealed that the divorce procedure had been conducted in full accordance with Islamic laws and the permission for irreversible divorce was granted by the Kelantan Syariah Court. The divorce certificate is said to have been issued on 1 July.
His cryptic remark about the couple’s son, Ismail Leon, who was born earlier this year, prompted new suspicions.
"There is no objective evidence as yet as to the biological father of the child”, Koh said. "On behalf of His Royal Highness, we request his privacy be respected”.
The 27-year-old former model has repeatedly disputed reports about the divorce, calling the recent events “an act of provocation”.
"I have not been given any admonition of divorce. I was in Russia with my child. We were not in Singapore in June for any divorce proceedings”, she reportedly told Malaysian news portal Malaysiakini, as quoted by The Straits Times.
The former model and Sultan Muhammad V made headlines in November 2018 when hints about their lavish wedding ceremony held in the prestigious Moscow suburb of Barvikha emerged. As it later turned out, the ceremony had been held in June 2018. However, shortly after their marriage became public knowledge, some media outlets spread reports of an upcoming divorce.
The rumours were fuelled by Sultan Muhammad V’s resignation as the supreme ruler of the country on 6 January. It fanned speculation about his marriage being the reason for the move, as the Malaysian rulers’ council refused to crown Voevodina, despite her embracing Islam.