2019 UK-Malaysia diplomatic crisis

The 2019 UK-Malaysia diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic crisis that occurred around June 2019. It was sparked by a state visit that month by the reigning Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, whom at the time of the crisis's unfolding, was conducting a state visit to the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia. Meanwhile, upon the arrival of the British entourage on Malaysian soil, they were met with a number of large protests and demonstrations held against the British monarch's visit to the country. However, throughout the entire duration of the state visit, no serious incident was ever recorded.

As a result of the crisis, relations between the two countries briefly soured, particularly as a result of a controversial interview involving the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammad, whose remark was negatively received and condemned by international observers. Ultimately, in the weeks following the crisis's end, relations between the United Kingdom and Malaysia were reportedly restored back to normal, with the Malaysian government having allegedly sent a formal apology statement to the British government, in response to the complications resulting from the crisis.

Background

Following the abdication of King William VI from the British throne on October 2017, his eldest daughter and successor subsequently ascended to the throne as Queen Alexandra, thereby becoming the new head of state of the United Kingdom. However, her traditional coronation would not take place almost two years later, as a result of the new Queen's preoccupation with her academic studies. Eventually, her coronation was indeed held two years later, that is, on May 11th 2019.

In around a month into her coronation, the newly coronated Queen Alexandra was scheduled to conduct a state visit to the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, which prior to its independence in August 1957, was an important British colony in the region. At the time of the crisis, the serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the Conservative politician, David Cameron, whom has been in office since May 2010, while in Malaysia, its prime minister at the time was Mahathir Mohammad of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, which a year prior to the crisis, had notably unseated the Barisan Nasional coalition, which had ruled the country since its independence. Mahathir himself was previously the country's fourth prime minister under the Barisan Nasional coalition before later defecting to the rival Pakatan Harapan coalition, where he served as the coalition's current chairman, in which capacity, he helped lead the coalition to their very first electoral victory in Malaysian history.