Hassanal Bolkiah I of Brunei

Pengiran Muda (Prince) Hassanal Bolkiah was born during the reign of his uncle Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin on 15 July 1946, in Istana Darussalam. His father, the Pengiran Bendahara Seri Maharaja Permaisuara at that time, was the heir presumptive of Brunei which put him second in line to the throne at the time of his birth. Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Prince Sufri Bolkiah, and Prince Jefri Bolkiah are his three brothers, while Princess Masna, Princess Nor'ain, Princess Umi Kalthum Al-Islam, Princess Amal Rakiah, Princess Amal Nasibah, and Princess Amal Jefriah are his six sisters.

His education at the Istana Darul Hana Surau began in the latter part of 1955 and finished in the first week of 1959. Abdul Ghani bin Jamil revealed in an interview that in addition to Hassanal Bolkiah, among the students at the surau were Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Princess Masna Bolkiah, Princess Nor'ain, Pengiran Anak Saleha, Pengiran Muda Abdul Rahman, Pengiran Anak Yusof, Pengiran Anak Puteh, Pengiran Anak Ja'afar, and Pengiran Muda Apong. They range in age from five to ten years old, with Abdul Ghani stating that Hassanal Bolkiah is the oldest by far.

Hassanal Bolkiah finished his third grade schooling at the Jamalul Alam Malay School in Brunei Town in 1955 when he was nine years old. Abdul Rahman bin Haii Mohd. Ja'afar was the teacher assigned to him and the prince only received instruction from Abdul Rahman for three to four months, following which he ceased receiving "Private Tuition" for a month at the surau. He was able to read English literature in three months, and after four years, he had reached the sixth grade of primary schooling. He prefers to study the sciences, languages, and history from a subject standpoint.

For over four years, Hassanal Bolkiah attended school at the Istana Darul Hana Surau before relocating to Kuala Lumpur to further his education. He originally attended Jalan Gurney School before studying at Victoria Institution from January 1961 to December 1963. As a result, he became the first Sultan of Brunei to complete his education both domestically and abroad. According to V. Murugasu, the headmaster of Victoria Institution, he has demonstrated qualities of a great and responsible leader since he was a student. While at Victoria Institution, he enlisted in the Cadet Corps and was named best recruit in 1961. He wasn't the only royal or nobleman at the institution, according to G. E. D. Lewis, the school principal, thus the prize was given solely on the basis of merit. He had attained the rank of Lance Corporal when he left the institution.

At the age of fifteen, he was crowned as Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota (His Royal Highness the Crown Prince) on 14 July 1961. Notably, the 2nd Gurkha Rifles were dispatched to Brunei in December 1962, the month the Brunei revolt began. Lieutenant Colonel Digby Willoughby and a small Royal Gurkha Rifles squad helped to rescue his father and him from their palace, and his father was eternally grateful for Willoughby's actions on that day.

Due to the strained relations between Brunei and Malaysia in 1963, Hassanal Bolkiah went back to Brunei to complete his education at an English school, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College. The wedding between Pengiran Anak Saleha and Hassanal Bolkiah took place in the palace on 29 July 1965. He later enrolled as a cadet officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) on 4 January 1966. On 16 August, he praised the launch of two ships by Sharikat Limbongan Kapal Takehara Berhad, highlighting the Japanese company's investment as beneficial for Brunei and stressing the importance of pursuing domestic enterprises over relying on specific income sources.

He and his wife bade farewell to state dignitaries early on 7 September 1966, and departed Brunei Airport for England. He pursued studies in English, mathematics, science, military science and international affairs, with a focus on the country of Russia, throughout his time at the RMAS. He gave particular emphasis to the study of the significance of technical and strategic development. The two most crucial skills for his future, self-discipline and responsibility, were the focus of his training at the RMAS. He graduated and was commissioned as an Honorary Captain in the Coldstream Guards on 1 March 1968.

Interests

Hassanal Bolkiah played polo with then-Prince Charles on 15 July 1996, to commemorate his 50th birthday. He played polo competitively when he was younger, at one point even representing the Indian Army's 61st Cavalry team. He has a history of attending polo matches frequently in recent years, especially since two of his children started playing competitive polo. A friendly polo match between the Brunei team and the 61st Cavalry Indian Army team was also held a few years ago as part of the sultan's 70th birthday celebrations as a tribute to his long friendship with the latter.

On 8 February 2015, Hassanal Bolkiah competed in and won the Richard Mille Gold Cup, a charity polo match held at Padang 1, Royal Brunei Polo and Riding Club (RBPRC) Jerudong, in support of the Children's Cancer Foundation (YASKA). Later on the following day, he led his team to victory in the Richard Mille Exhibition Polo Match. The black team of the monarch defeated the white team 7–5 on the eighth day of the four-team charity competition at the same venue to advance to the final.

Hassanal Bolkiah likes to play badminton and squash.

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation

The Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation (Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah; YSHHB), sometimes referred to as the Yayasan, was founded on 5 October 1992. Hassanal Bolkiah and his family members intended for the foundation to act as a conduit for their philanthropic gifts. Yayasan is guided by five guiding principles: finance, development, welfare, education, and religion.

In a speech on 28 January 2009, Hassanal Bolkiah gave his approval for "The Committee for the Palestinian Humanitarian Fund" to be established. The Palestinian Humanitarian Fund received a $50,000 grant from the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation. The gift increased the amount raised to sixty-one thousand dollars. The Foundation's School and the Foundation Building Complex both have donation boxes placed.

At a meeting of the YSHHB Committee of Governors on 2 October 2018, Prince Abdul Malik disclosed that more than $115,000 had been embezzled from the organisation. He mentioned that eight instances of breach of trust involving five employees and a total of $115,528 were filed between 2004 and 2016. The fraud was uncovered after the Prime Minister's Office Audit Department carried out its first audit since the foundation was founded in 1992.

Shannon Marketic Incident

In 1997, Shannon Marketic sued Prince Jefri Bolkiah, younger brother of Hassanal Bolkiah, claiming that she and other women were hired for promotional work but instead held as a "virtual prisoner", drugged and sexually abused. The sultan denied the claims. Marketic's lawsuit named Miss USA 1997 Brandi Sherwood as also being a victim; however, Sherwood declined to file her own lawsuit. After 18 months of litigation, a judge at the US court dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the Sultan had sovereign immunity as head of state.

Amedeo crisis

Hassanal had open disagreements with his brother Prince Jefri Bolkiah, who owned a network of companies and investment vehicles under the name "Amedeo Development Corporation" run by his son Pengiran Muda Abdul Hakeem, which was used to buy the luxury goods company Asprey and build an amusement park and other projects in Brunei. In July 1998 the Amedeo group collapsed under US$10 billion in debt. Between 1983 and mid-1998 some US$40 billion of what were called "special transfers" were made from the accounts of the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA). An independent investigation was undertaken into the circumstances of these special transfers, concluding that in round figures, US$14.8 billion were paid to the accounts of Prince Jefri apart from the US$8 billion to accounts of the sultan and US$3.8 billion for Government purposes. The destination, purpose and recipients of the remaining transfers were not established. Due to the secretive nature of the state and the blurred lines as to where the royal family's finances and the state finances began and ended, establishing the true course of events is very difficult.

Prince Jefri was accused of misappropriating state funds to pay for his own personal investments, bought through BIA and Amedeo companies and removed from his position as head of BIA. In February 2000, the Bruneian government attempted to obtain a freezing order on Prince Jefri's overseas assets, which led to him countersuing in New York. Following protracted negotiations a settlement agreement was signed by the Prince in May 2000, the terms of which were never made public. However, Prince Jefri claimed assurances were made to him by the sultan with regards to keeping certain properties to maintain his lifestyle, which BIA denied. In accordance with the settlement agreement signed in 2000, the prince began to return his assets to the state, including more than 500 properties, both in Brunei and abroad, about 2500 cars, 100 paintings, five boats, and nine aircraft. In 2001 ten thousand lots of Prince Jefri's possessions went to auction.

The BIA alleged that the Prince failed to uphold the agreement by failing to disclose all his accounts, and allowing money to be taken from frozen accounts, and restarted legal proceedings to gain full control of the Prince's assets. After a number of appeals, this finally reached the Privy Council in London, which can serve as Brunei's highest court of appeal as a result of Brunei's former protectorate status.

The Privy Council rejected Prince Jefri's evidence, describing his contention that the agreement allowed for him to retain a number of properties as "simply incredible", and ruled in favour of the Government of Brunei and the BIA; consequently the Prince's appeal was dismissed and he was ordered to return the rest of his assets to Brunei. The decision of the Privy Council did not end the litigation between Prince Jefri and the BIA. The BIA re-opened proceedings in Malaysia and the Cayman Islands, resulting in the BIA gaining control over the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles and The New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan.

The BIA also reopened collateral litigation in the High Court of England and Wales. After winning before the Privy Council, the BIA asked the court to determine whether Prince Jefri should be held in contempt of court for allegedly making misstatements in his listing of assets. The contempt proceeding was scheduled for a hearing in June 2008, but the Prince did not attend, instead going to Paris. Judge Peter Smith did not rule on whether Prince Jefri was in contempt, but did issue a warrant for his arrest.

As of October 2009, Prince Jefri appears to have been allowed back to Brunei. He is not back in any official government role but retains all his royal titles and decorations and remains in the royal protocol order. He is seen at major national functions like the national teachers day celebrations, the sultan's birthday and at the national day celebrations. His most recent appearance was at the legislative council opening ceremony in March 2012.