Vaulting from being a commoner to the queen of Malaysia’s richest state Selangor is something few could imagine, but life as a royal is not all “rainbows and unicorns”, said former stewardess and TV journalist Norashikin Abdul Rahman.
Now known as Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin, the consort of the Selangor ruler, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, she said she was glad she had adapted fast to her new life in the palace.
While the public sees a glittering lifestyle, she said there are many limitations too in what she can now do.
“Through the cacophony of this new life of mine, I must confess that not everything is rainbows and unicorns”, she said in a book about her new life written by her sister, Datin Norely Abdul Rahman.
“I have learnt that I cannot go gallivanting as and when I feel like I want to. I miss the freedom to move around on my own as I used to before my Permaisuri (queen) days.”
The book, My First Year Journey – From TV News Anchor To Permaisuri Selangor: An Anecdotal Experience, offers interesting insights into the life of the new royal member.
Malaysia has Malay royal houses reigning as titular heads in nine of the 13 states. The other four states – Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak – former British protectorates, are headed by governors.
The queen was 45 when she got married again. She had been a stewardess with Malaysia Airlines. The marriage on Aug 31, 2016, was her second and she has two children from a previous marriage to a pilot.
For the Selangor ruler, who was then 70, the marriage was his third. He has three children from two previous marriages.
Today, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin was quoted as saying it is becoming tougher for her to move around incognito, which limits what she can wear.
“Nobody seemed to care about what I wore before but now any outfit of mine will be scrutinised by the public and comments, both positive and negative, flow freely.”
The book provides a sneak peek into what Malay royal couples say to each other in private, and if anything, shows them to be like any other loving pair.
“Why do I look so chubby in this photo?” Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin asked as she flipped through a newspaper at the prestigious Royal Lake Club one day, according to the book.
“You don’t look so bad. Look how grumpy I look,” the ruler replied with a chuckle.
From learning the protocols and the difference between a tiara and a crown, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin shares many funny moments and her personal experience in the Selangor palace.
She recalled an incident on her wedding day, when she had accidentally stepped out of her car in her “driving slippers”, just minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to start.
“Wow! You are on time! That’s impressive!” His Royal Highness joked, after she arrived at the Royal Palace Mosque in Selangor state.
As the sultan presented her with the wedding ring, the queen remembers feeling pleasantly surprised.
“He actually bought the ring himself and had never shown me until that day… Tuanku opened the red box with my beautiful wedding ring inside and I was pleasantly surprised. Though I needn’t have doubted his taste in the first place,” she said in the book.
Just hours after they tied the knot, she returned briefly to her “old life” as a TV news anchor by driving to work.
The new queen spent that eventful night presenting the news to the masses for the last time.