Malaysia today installs its new king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah

Malaysia installed a new king today after the last monarch abdicated in a historic first following his reported marriage to a Russian ex-beauty queen.

Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was crowned monarch after Sultan Muhammad V stepped down following his marriage to former Miss Moscow, Oksana Voevodina. In a ceremony steeped in pomp and centuries of tradition, the sports-loving sultan, dressed in aqua blue formal wear, took the oath of office at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur.
The ceremony was televised nationally and attended by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and hundreds of guests decked out in Islamic finery. Before being sworn in at the palace, the 59-year-old, who is also the ceremonial ruler of central Pahang state, was given a welcome at the national parliament and inspected a guard of honour.

The new king is an avid athlete who holds a string of positions on sporting bodies. He is on the council of world football governing body FIFA, president of the Asian Hockey Association, and used to be the head of the Football Association of Malaysia. After attending school in Malaysia, the keen polo player went on to study in Britain where he attended the Sandhurst military academy, according to a biography published on official news agency Bernama.