Brunei's wealthy ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has confirmed that he has taken a second wife, a former Malaysian television journalist, more than two years after divorcing an ex-flight attendant.

In a royal household statement published by local media today in this oil-rich Southeast Asian sultanate, the 58-year-old Hassanal announced that he married Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim, 26, last Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.

The sultan's private secretary, however, denied a report in a Malaysian newspaper that Hassanal was planning to host a party at one of his palaces next month in Brunei to celebrate.

The private lives of members of Brunei's royal family are often shrouded in secrecy and news of the latest marriage first came out in the Malaysian media.

Malay Muslims like the sultan can have up to four wives.

In 2003, Hassanal divorced Bruneian former flight attendant Mariam Abdul Aziz after more than 20 years of marriage and stripped her of her royal titles. No public explanation was given.

The sultan remains married to first wife Anak Saleha, whom he wed in 1967.

His latest marriage has caused much excitement in Brunei and Malaysia, which share a long religious and cultural heritage.

Son's wedding

Azrinaz had spent several years as a broadcast journalist and later as a newscaster with private station TV3 before resigning in May. Following her departure, rumours had been rife that she would marry the sultan.

The sultan's marriage came almost a year after his son and heir Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, wedded half-Swiss commoner Sarah Salleh, 17, in a glittering ceremony attended by foreign diginitaries.

Before the emergence of technology billionaries like Bill Gates, the sultan of Brunei was once rated the world's richest man, although in Brunei there is no clear distinction between state and royal family wealth.

Brunei opted out of the Malaysian federation in the 1960s, enabling it to keep its oil wealth and sustain a cradle-to-grave welfare system for its 350,000 people. Royal families on both sides remain closely linked.