JOHOR BARU • Palace staff who looked after Johor's princess when she was young will be among the guests invited to her upcoming wedding on Aug 14, the Royal Press Office said in a statement yesterday.
"These are the people I grew up with and they are very special to me. I want all of them to be at my wedding to share in my happiness," Johor princess Tunku Tun Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Sultan Ibrahim, 31, was quoted as saying.
The palace workers include stable boys who taught the Princess how to ride a horse, drivers who drove her to school, and Johor Military Force soldiers and bodyguards who protected the royal family.
They have looked after the Princess since her formative years and have a "special place" in her heart, the statement said.
These workers will be among royalty, politicians, senior state officials and prominent businessmen invited to the wedding, which the palace had earlier said will be steeped in the royal family's traditions and customs.
Tunku Tun Aminah, the only daughter of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, grew up with her five brothers at Istana Pasir Pelangi. She will be marrying Dutch-born Dennis Muhammad Abdullah, 28.
"The drivers and bodyguards who ferried me around would remind me that I was the only princess, and advised me to be good. Every afternoon after school, I would be with my brothers and we would play with the stable boys.
We would eat together at the stable 'warong' (stall)... In addition to the stable boys, I am also inviting all the other staff who looked after us. They were all part of my childhood and they taught me the values of dedicated service, loyalty and kindness," the Princess said.
Each of the long-serving staff will receive a special commemorative wedding souvenir personally designed by the Princess.
Mr Adnan Othman, a 45-year-old horse trainer and player for the Royal Johor Polo Club, said: "I had goosebumps... it felt like a dream. I still can't believe Tunku Aminah actually gave me an invitation to her wedding."
He said he has known the Princess since she was five years old, adding that she started taking up horse riding seriously when she turned 11.
