Sultan of Brunei’s Rebel Son Died, Popular for Celebrity Parties and...

At 38, after battling liver cancer for a few years, Prince Haji ‘Abdul’ Azim, second son of the current Sultan of Burnei, Hassanal Bolkiah, died.

Government sources confirmed the death and they decreed official mourning for seven days in commemoration of the deceased prince. In that period, no celebration is allowed in the nation, a publication of Infobae.

That, even though Prince Azim was really popular for its parties and celebrations. Also for being a philanthropist with a passion for culture and the arts.

Azim was born in 1982, in the capital of Brunei, he was the son of Hajah Mariam, the second wife of the Sultan. He studied at the Brunei International School, before moving on to the Raffles Institution in Singapore and Oxford Brookes University in the UK.

British media confirmed that the second son of the sultan died on October 24 after battling cancer for several years. Azim would have spent the days before his death hospitalized, although the cause of death was not officially disclosed by the sultanate authorities.

Internationally popular

Azim was very popular on purpose, appearing at parties across Europe and America with famous people like Scarlet Johanson, Janet Jackson, Mischa Barton, among many others.

He also held private parties to which he invited celebrities, like his remembered 25-year birthday party, in which Michel Jackson, Pamela Anderson, Joan Collins and Mariah Carey were, who performed several of his songs.

The life of this prince was closer to Western culture than to the traditions of his country, or to the political controversies promoted by his father, Sultan Bolkiah. Azim, who was the sixth descendant of one of the richest men in the world, he was her second son and fourth in line to the Brunei throne.

He had thoughts contrary to those promulgated by his father regarding religion, politics and his ideology. Azim shared with recognized icons of the LGBTI community and pro transgender activists, such as Caitlyn Jenner, Mariah Carey, and skier Gus Kenworthy, who is openly gay.

The newspaper The Times remember that, in 2006, the prince sent Carey a necklace valued at 5.7 million dollars on a private plane, hours before a concert he gave in New York’s Madison Square. In 2014, the prince hired her for over a million dollars for him to perform three songs at the New Year’s party, which he gave at the Dorchester Hotel in London, owned by his father.

Projects in fashion and cinema

For years there was a rumor that he was gay Because he never married, he was not known to have a public relationship with a woman, nor did he have children. This was a sensitive issue in Brunei, where there is a law that punishes homosexuality with the death penalty by stoning. A regulation that was defended by the sultan, but that after years of international political pressure chose to leave it without effect. The last public execution was in 1957.

Azim also got involved in the fashion industry, as designer of a line of unisex bags for the luxury firm MCM. He also had projects in the cinema, as producer of the films ‘Never leave me alone’, released in 2014 with Hilary Swank as the protagonist, and ‘Dark places’ (2015), a film with Charlize Theron.

According to the magazine Forbes, the fortune of his controversial father estimated at $ 20 billion and this allowed him to fulfill several of his business whims. In 2007 he shared the runway with the British top model Naomi Campbell.

According to Media, Entertainment and Arts Worldwide, at the time of his death the prince had a fortune with a net worth of $ 5 billion.

In Brunei, during the days of mourning for the death of Prince Azim, They must also wave flags at half-staff and wear white clothing, the color of mourning in the tradition of the country. (I)