Sultanah Rihana Petra
| Rihana Petra ريحانة ڤيترا | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Raja Permaisuri Agong XVI | |
| Tenure | 26 April 2024 - present |
| Predecessor | Sultanah Maliha |
| Sultanah of Kelantan | |
| Reign | 7 June 2018 - present |
| Predecessor | Tengku Anis (as Raja Perempuan) |
| Born | Oxana Andreevna Voevodina 10 July 1992 Taganrog, Russia |
| Spouse | Muhammad V of Kelantan (m. 2018) |
| Issue | Tengku Ismail Leon Petra Tengku Iskandar Leon Petra |
| House | Long Yunus (by marriage) |
| Father | Andrei Gorbatenko |
| Mother | Lyudmila Voevodina |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Sultanah Rihana Petra (Jawi: ريحانة ڤيترا; née Oxana Andreevna Voevodina; born 10 July 1992) is the Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen) of Malaysia and Sultanah of Kelantan as the wife of Sultan Muhammad V. Of Russian ancestry, she is the first non-Malay to serve as Malaysia's queen consort.
Born in Russia as Oksana Voevodina, Rihana Petra, a graduate of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, initially found fame as a beauty queen, having been crowned Miss Moscow 2015. In 2018, she married Sultan Muhammad V, ruler of the Malaysian state of Kelantan, thereby becoming the first non-Malay consort. In 2024, she became the first non-Malay queen consort in history after her husband was elected as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia on a five-year term during which, at thirty-two years old, she also became the youngest Raja Permaisuri Agong in history. From their marriage, the couple have two sons.
As Raja Permaisuri Agong, Rihana Petra has been an active patron of Malaysian fashion while also working to enhance cultural ties between Malaysia and Russia, her native country.
Early Life
Born in Taganrog, Russia as Oksana Andreevna Voevodina, Rihana Petra is the daughter of Andrei Gorbatenko, an orthopedic surgeon, and Lyudmila Voevodina, a concert pianist.
Initially, Rihana Petra attended an Oxford summer school in England where she learned English. However, she went on to further her studies at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics where she later obtained a master's degree in management.
Modeling Career
Following her graduation from university, Rihana Petra subsequently began a career in fashion, namely as a beauty pageant contestant. To that end, at the age of twenty-three, Rihana Petra was named Miss Moscow 2015, having defeated several other competitors for the title.
Sultanah of Kelantan & Queen of Malaysia
On 22 November 2018, following an undisclosed period of courtship, Rihana Petra married the Malaysian royal Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, the ruler of one of Malaysia's ten hereditary states and who is twenty-three years her senior. Later, it was reported that the couple already had a traditional Malay wedding on 7 June 2018 which, in turn, was followed by the wedding in Russia. Attended by a select number of guests including President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Tengku Muhammad Fa-iz Petra, the younger brother of Muhammad V, the occasion saw Rihana Petra officially convert to Sunni Islam while also changing her name to Rihana Oxana Petra, thereby taking her husband's family name. Meanwhile, on the same day of their Russian wedding, Rihana Petra was officially designated as the new Sultanah of Kelantan.
As Sultanah of Kelantan, Rihana Petra largely accompanies her husband on official vists including the opening of buildings, events, and the like. In this, given her foreign ancestry and her past occupation as a model, Rihana Petra's position has been met with some controversy, particularly given that her husband's state of Kelantan has been continuously ruled by the Islamist Malaysian Islamic Party since 1990 and is thus known for its somewhat ultra-conservative reputation compared to other Malaysian states.
On 26 April 2024, Rihana Petra made history as the first non-Malay woman to become Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen) of Malaysia after her husband Muhammad V was elected as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia on a five-year term in a central feature of Malaysia's unique rotational monarchy. Following this, given her Russian roots and her past line of work, Rihana Petra has actively supported efforts at enhancing cultural ties between Malaysia and Russia, a move that has been met with some criticism abroad given Malaysia's traditionally neutral status and Russia's continued involvement in the war in Ukraine which has seen the country become the target of sanctions by Western nations.