09 April 2010

Royal Titles

In a recent post (here), I mentioned two versions of HM the Sultan's name, the shorter of which took a television newsreader 5 seconds to read out.

My UBD colleague Adrian Clynes has pointed out that there is an even more complete version:
Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam
This version includes details of the Sultan's father (after ibni, the royal equivalent of bin 'son of').

In fact, in the 7:00 radio news this morning, I heard this longer version read out in full twice, in a report on the current ASEAN summit in Vietnam. I guess it is important to use the full version of the name when reporting on official royal visits to foreign countries.

I wasn't able to time it (partly as I was driving my car at the time), but I bet it took a little bit longer than 5 seconds to say.