Tuanku Bainun

Perak Royal Family
HRH The Sultan<br/ >HRH The Raja Permaisuri Raja Nazrin Shah Tuanku Zara Salim Raja Azlan Muzaffar Shah Raja Nazira Safya Raja Azureen Y.Bhg. Muhammad Saleh Y.Bhg. Latiff Saleh Y.Bhg. Nurlin Saleh Y.Bhg. Azlin Saleh Raja Ashman Shah Datin Seri Noraini Jane Raja Eminah Alliyah Raja Ahmad Nazim Azlan Shah Raja Bain un-nisa Safia Raja Eleena Ismail Farouk Raja Yong Sofia Tunku Kamil of Kedah Aznal Shahabudin of Kedah
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Tuanku Bainun binti Mohd Ali (born 1932) is the current Raja Permaisuri (Queen) of the Malaysian state of Perak. She was also the ninth Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen) of Malaysia, the first commoner to be installed as Queen.

Background

Tuanku Bainun was born in Penang in 1932 and received her early education at the St. George’s Girls School, Penang. She was selected to further her studies at the prestigious Teacher’s Training College, Kirkby, England from 1952 to 1954.

A year after returning from England, she married Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu of Perak in 1955. The Sultan was then a Magistrate in Kuala Lumpur, while Tuanku Bainun was teaching at her former school. She has taught in various schools in Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Raub, Taiping and Kuantan.

Becoming Queen

Upon her husband's accession to the Perak throne in 1984, she became Raja Permaisuri of Perak with the title of Tuanku. In Perak, Queens of royal blood are known as Raja Perempuan, while the title of Raja Permaisuri was reserved for commoner consorts. Her Royal Highness was officially proclaimed the Raja Permaisuri Perak Darul Ridzuan on February 19, 1988 in a historic ceremony at Istana Kinta in Ipoh.

Sultan Azlan Shah was selected as the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong and during the Oath Taking and Signing Ceremony on April 26, 1989, Tuanku Bainun was proclaimed Raja Permaisuri Agong. Tuanku Bainun is the first commoner ever to become Queen of Malaysia. Interestingly she was crowned Raja Permaisuri Agong on a new throne made of silver that replaced the ancient wooden throne used by Malaysia's eight previous Queens of royal blood, adding another first to her crown.

Royal Family

The royal couple have five children, two princes and three princesses. The eldest is Raja Nazrin Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah, who is also Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Perak. The others are Raja Dato’ Seri Azureen binti Sultan Azlan Shah, Raja Dato’ Seri Ashman Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah, Raja Eleena binti Sultan Azlan Shah and Raja Yong Sofia Binti Sultan Azlan Shah.^[1]

Interests and Hobbies

Tuanku Bainun shares a common interest with the Sultan in sports, especially golf. She pays serious attention to her subjects and is always close to them, especially the women, and has a deep interest in welfare activities. Her hobbies include collecting recipes, floral arrangement and reading.

Honours

She was awarded:^[2]

Honours of Perak

•  Perak :
  • Recipient of the Royal Family Order of Perak (DK) ^[3]
  • Member First Class of the Azlanii Royal Family Order (DKA I, 2010) ^[4]

Honours of Malaysia

•  Malaysia :
  • Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (DMN) ^[5]
•  Selangor :
  • First Class of the Royal Family Order of Selangor (DK I, 11.12.2005)

Foreign Honours

•  Japan : Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown (30.9.1991)
•  Thailand : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao (9.1990)

See also

• Yang Di-Pertuan Agong
• Raja Permaisuri Agong

References