25-Year-Old Ex-Beauty Queen Converts To Islam To Marry Malaysian King 24 Years Older Than Her (Photos)

25-Year-Old Ex-Beauty Queen Converts To Islam To Marry Malaysian King 24 Years Older Than Her (Photos)

Oksana Voevodina

A Russian beauty queen has become the first lady of Malaysia after marrying the country's king. 

Oksana Voevodina married Malaysia's Muhammad V of Kelantan, 49, in a lavish royal wedding ceremony in the Russian capital after reportedly converting to Islam earlier this year.

The 25-year-old doctor's daughter, who won the title of Miss Moscow in 2015, has worked previously as a model in China and Thailand.

She is 24 years younger than the sultan, who is known as Yang di-Pertuan Agong and referred to as 'Your Majesty'. The groom's full name is Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra ibni Tengku Ismail Petra.

The ceremony took place on November 22 in a concert hall in the upscale Moscow suburb of Barvikha, reported Islam News.

The Malaysian ruler - an elected monarch who has been on the throne since 2016 - has not disclosed how the couple met.

Before becoming a royal bride Voevodina said: 'When I was at school I was a kind of bandit.

'I liked some skaters, bikes, VMX, guys who took part in competitions. I love riding a bike too.'

She said: 'I think that the man must be the head of the family and of course shall not earn less than a woman.'

The wedding was alcohol free and all food was halal. The king was dressed in Malaysian national clothes, and the bride wore a white wedding dress.

She took the Muslim name Rihana and a picture of her in a hijab was posted on Twitter. One message read: 'The people are grateful and proud to receive Queen Agong. Long live the king!'

Voevodina (right) is 24 years younger than the king (left), who is known as Yang di-Pertuan Agong

and referred to as 'Your Majesty'. They are pictured on their wedding day

Malaysian news portal rakyatku.com said that the former beauty queen converted to Islam on April 16, 2018.

Little is known about Voevodina apart from her victory in the Miss Moscow contest three years ago when her vital statistics were given as 33-23-35.

She is believed to be a graduate from the Faculty of Business at the elite Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

It is unclear if she has been married before since she has used the surname Voevodina during her glamour career - but is now evidently reverting to her father's surname Gorbatenko.

Reports in Kuala Lumpar say she will be known in future as Rihana Oxana Gorbatenko.

Andrey Gorbatenko is an orthopaedic surgeon from Rostov-on-Don believed to be in his late 50s.

He is seen hugging her in a picture taken on a boat near the Kremlin as she wears her crown after her beauty pageant victory. She said at the time that he helped her overcome her nerves in the final.

'When I was performing [at the contest] there was my father sitting in the hall and he was like a reference point for me,' she said.

'I was watching only him and performing only for him. Because I knew if I do something wrong, papa is papa, he would never say anything and he would not ever condemn.

'He would just smile and say: "It's OK, just get up and go on."

'So I felt strong support from his side.'

She claimed she only realised the power of her looks when she went to university.

'I was the tallest in my class (at school) and the most slim, and I was a bit worried about that,' she said.

'Only when I was at university, did I realise that this was my strong side.

'Young guys started to pay attention and I realised that they looked at me more often than at fat and not very tall girls.'

At the time she won Miss Moscow, she insisted she did not have a boyfriend because she hadn't found the right man.

'I do not have a boyfriend,' she said. 'And I think that it would be harder for me to win, if I had.

'Because every boyfriend, if he let his girl go to the beauty contest, she won't be his girlfriend anymore.

'Because she will get lots of attention, secondly she doesn't have any time for a private life and finally I think it will be a distraction.

'I will have the relations when my heart will tell. So far it is silent.'

After winning her Miss Moscow title she said: 'My hobby is the design of female clothes and swim suits. I sew women's clothes by order, too.'

Her mother was a beauty contestant in a local contest in Penza in the early 1990s soon after the collapse of the USSR. 

Voevodina said in earlier interviews that she had ambitions to be a fashion designer.

She made a collection of swim wear - some of which was worn by beauty pageant contestants.

The Malaysian head of state was educated at Oakham School in Rutland, England and St Cross College, Oxford University. Later he attended the European Business School in London.

His heir is currently his younger brother Tengku Muhammad Faiz Petra.