Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has become a father for the 11th time after his young new wife gave birth to a boy, officials in the oil-rich Southeast Asian kingdom said today.

Hassanal, who turns 60 on July 15, married popular Malaysian television news presenter Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim ( right ), 26, in August last year after divorcing his second wife, a former air stewardess.

The birth of their first child on Thursday was celebrated with a 21-gun salute at the 1,700-room royal palace located along a river in this capital, a government spokesman said.

The sultan, one of the world's last absolute rulers, now has five sons and six daughters.

Remains married to first wife

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. As a Muslim, he can have up to four wives.

His marriage to the Malaysian television personality caused much excitement in Brunei and Malaysia, which share a long religious and cultural heritage.

It followed the September 2004 wedding of the sultan's son and the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, to a half-Swiss teenager, which was attended by leaders and royals from around the world.

Brunei draws its wealth from oil and gas reserves, and the sultan was once reputed to be the world's richest man before the rise of technology mogul Bill Gates and other self-made billionaires.