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U.S. singer-songwriter Brittany Porter is demanding a “proper divorce” after she says she unwittingly married a Malaysian sultan in a ceremony she assumed was simply a celebration of their engagement.
Porter, 30, who releases music under the name Brook Lynn, spoke to the South China Post about the debacle, claiming that she first met Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, the former King of Malaysia, in January 2024 through mutual friends.
“We had this instant chemistry and good banter,” she said, sharing she was particularly drawn to his “cute” British accent. “We were just friends at first, but we started talking every day and the next thing you know,” she explained.
The two embarked on a whirlwind romance, marked by extravagant travels across Asia and lavish gifts. “He flew me and my friends all around the world. He was so generous, the nicest hotels, giving my friends the best treatment, experiences and gifts,” Porter claimed. “He loves hotels, he probably spent millions on them for our trips.”
However, it was before their first overseas trip to the Middle East last April that Porter says the Sultan, 56, proposed to her.
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Brittany Porter is demanding a ‘proper divorce’ from Sultan Muhammad V after she says he cut off contact (its.brook.lynn / Instagram)
“He asked if I wanted to go on holiday in Oman with him… it felt like I was in a real Disney princess movie,” she recalled to the Daily Mail. “He proposed right after that, and he got me a blue diamond, because I said I wanted it to match my eyes.”
Porter claimed that while they were in Oman, Muhammad V flew her friends in for a religious ceremony.
“In my culture, the big ceremony is a wedding, which we planned for January 2025. So I was confused,” she added to the South China Post. “They brought an imam out and I did the whole conversion, but he didn’t teach me all that much about Islam… I only recently learned that a nikah constitutes a marriage under Islamic law.”
Porter further clarified on her social media: “In Western culture, the ceremony itself is considered the official wedding, so I didn’t realize how different the terminology and process would be under Islamic law.
“But the truth is – I was, and still am, his wife in the eyes of Allah,” she continued.
The recording artist further claimed that once they returned to Malaysia, she was expected to produce a male “heir” as soon as possible.
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Brittany Porter claims she is still married to Sultan Muhammad V (its.brook.lynn / Instagram)
She said that she eventually became pregnant before suffering a miscarriage.
“It was horrible,” she confessed to the Mail. “But after that, we just started fighting a lot.”
Despite the unraveling of their relationship, the California native said she pressed forward with wedding planning, traveling back to her home state to meet with a wedding planner.
“He was being distant with me and I was freaking out so I flew back to Malaysia — but he wasn’t there,” she said, alleging, “He blocked me on everything. He just texted my best friend saying it wasn’t going to work out.”
She said she hasn’t heard from him since, and is now looking for a “proper divorce.”
“I feel like this behavior is a pattern for him,” Porter said of the ex-King’s quick courtship followed by radio silence. “I fell for his trap.”
Muhammad V has been the 29th sultan of Kelantan since 2010. He ascended the throne following his father’s incapacitating stroke. He also ruled as the king of Malaysia from 2016 to 2019, when he abruptly abdicated the throne.
He was previously married to his first wife, Tengku Zubaidah binti Tengku Norudin, from 2004 to 2008. In 2010, he married his second wife, Sultanah Nur Diana Petra, before adding another wife, Russian beauty queen Oxana Andreevna Voevodina (referred to as Rihana Petra during their marriage) in 2018. He and Voevodina divorced a year later — the same year they welcomed a son together.
While the events were traumatic, Porter now looks back on them with a sense of optimism. Her “bizarre” experience has inspired her debut single, “Oh My Gosh,” which is out now.
“It’s been amazing, it’s been a healing journey for me, and really freeing,” she told the Mail. “I am grateful for everything that happened at the end because the songs are about him.”