At the twighlight of 2024, and as the world's oldest monarch was being buried, an Instagram story shifted the attention on the central members of The House of Al Bu Said. Omani Crown Prince, the firstborn son of The Sultan & his Consort was engaged to be married for the second time! As the main character of The Sultanate Monarchy's future since his unprecedented, historic elevation to Crown Prince in 2021, Theyazin bin Haitham was the royal person mostly discussed in Oman on December 31, 2024, having overshadowed his distant relative, Jamshid bin Abdullah, the last Sultan of Zanzibar (1963-4) who returned to his ancestral home (in Oman) in 2020 to live out his final years as a distant royal relative, and had passed away the night before, aged 95. The story was shared by Sayyid Theyazin's maternal aunt, Maani bint Abdullah Al Busaidi (merely a royal relative), and soon confirmed by royal watchers, even though both news of that day were rather considered as a matter of private affairs, without any official attention, but spare reports on few royal news outlets. The Royal Wedding, that took place on April 24 & was celebrated on May 1, 2025, was a glittering, yet personal event for the once-divorced Crown Prince.
The Katb Al-Kitab ceremony, registering The Marriage took place on Thursday, 24th April 2025, at 8:00pm at The Mazay Hall of Al-Alam Palace in (Omani capital) Muscat. An invitation by HM The Sultan & HH The Honorable Lady of Oman to the Wedding ceremony of their son, Theyazin, was revealed to the media the day before. Photos from Signing The Marriage Contract, attended by only male members of The Royal Family, show Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, and his two sons, Theyazin & Bilarab, seated on their chairs during the ceremony & then standing to receive Congratulations. They were shared by Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham's official Instagram profile. A second celebration, from which a short video was released to the public, was The Wedding Reception, held in the open air yard of Al Barakah Palace in Seeb (in the outskirts of Muscat), on Thursday night, 1st of May 2025. We can see Theyazin - also The Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports - dressed in a military uniform & wearing his honorary decorations, enter the palace yard accompanied by his younger brother, Sayyid Bilarab, young male Royal relatives, members of his personal entourage & security, as well as cameramen; all in their traditional outfits, enter together the celebration venue, full of young members of various Omani clans, tribes & military placements - their weapons & traditional swords in display, some perform the sword dances, others beat a tune in drums; all of that with the dark sky in the background full of a glittering display of fireworks, released all the time.
One will ask now: what about the bride? What is her name and identity, and why she hadn't appeared in any of the major wedding ceremonies? According to the Ibadi Islam (the religious dogma of the majority of Omanis), a practice known as Pudrah is strictly observed during marriages. It dictates that no other men can see the bride at the wedding, apart from the bridegroom. In particular, most of the Omani Rulers followed this tradition. The current First Lady, Sayyida Al Jalila Ahad bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al Busaidi, who has no official title of Royal Consort, was the first Spouce of a Sultan to make a public appearance in 2020. Her mother, Sayyida Khalisa bint Nasr bin Ya'rub Al Busaidi (who passed away on Monday, 19 May 2025), a distant member of Al Busaidi dynasty, was not known by name during her lifetime. However, as times change, so do the practices: This time the bride's identity (only) was revealed shortly before the marriage: she is Sayyida Alia bint Mohammed bin Hilal Al Busaidi, a distant member of the extended royal family (or royal relative). She hails from a family of prominent politicians, two of her uncles currently holding posts of Governor of Muscat (Sayyid Saud bin Hilal Al Busaidi) and Ambassador to UAE (Sayyid Ahmed bin Hilal Al Busaidi); her late paternal grandfather, Sayyid Hilal bin Hamad Al Samar Al Busaidi, having served as Governor of Nizwa, Minister of Justice & Head of The Supreme Court under the previous Monarch, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said (r. 1970-2020).
This is not the first marriage of His Highness Sayyid Theyazin Bin Haitham Al Said. Shortly after being made Crown Prince, in January 2021, he was engaged to his first cousin from both parents, Sayyida Meyyan bint Shihab Bin Tariq Al Said; a renowned digital artist & photographer, her exhibitions being displayed in Oman & London, UK. The Contract Registration Ceremony took place on 11 November (2021), with only one photo of Theyazin published by then; while their wedding reception (from which there are no photos of the attendants), saw the performance of female artists from The Middle East - Lebanese Myriam Fares & Emirati Ahlam among them. The marriage was short lived, and ended in early 2022, as was confirmed during the announcement of Theyazin's second engagement. Sayyid Theyazin, the eldest of four children of The Sultan of Oman, was born in 1990 and studied political science in the University of Oxford, later receiving his Master's degree in history from Oxford's Brook's University. He worked in The Foreign Ministry of Oman from 2013, and was placed to The Omani UK Embassy in 2018. After his father's succession as Sultan of Oman in early 2020, Sayyid Theyazin worked closely to him in The Prime Minister's Office (Chaired by The Monarch), before he eventually was appointed as Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth on August 18, after the merge of the ministry of Culture & Heritage (previously held by Sultan Haitham), becoming the youngest member of the first government, appointed by His Majesty.
On January 11, 2021, his first anniversary of accession, HM Sultan Haitham bin Tariq bin Taimur Al Said issued two Royal Degrees (No 6/2021 & No 7/2021), the first of which promulgated a new Basic Law of The State. In particular it created a new Order of Succession, and set a mechanism of appointing a Crown Prince for the first time. Unlike most other Monarchies in The Arab World, Oman had not a standard order of Succession, and the Ibadi custom of a Royal Council chosing whom of The Al Said dynasty to proclaim Monarch, in order to avoid dispute between contesting family branches. The late Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said (1940 - 2020), Father of The Modern Oman, had his presumed heir named on a letter, Sealed in an envelope for the case The Council could not agree on a successor three days after his death. When the time came, the envelope was unsealed within hours and the prefered heir & first cousin of the deceased Sultan, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, was proclaimed without delay. Under the new Order of Succession, the eldest son of The Sultan, upon the age of 21, is entitled to become Crown Prince and replace the ruler when temporarily unavailable. To succeed the throne one must be a Muslim, of age, rational, son of Muslim parents, and descend from Sultan Turki Bin Said (all of his descendants are entitled to the style of His/Her Highness). The Succession is agnatic, and goes from Father to eldest Son (not rotating among brothers unless there is no other living descendant). Crown Prince Theyazin has not yet had any children; his younger brother, however, Prince (Sayyid) Bilarab (married 15 June 2021) has a son; Sayyid Haitham Bin Bilarab Bin Haitham Al Said, born to his wife (of Unknown identity) in December 2023. Hence, the first three in line to the Omani throne are known!
Video from The Wedding Reception (1/05/2025):
Sources:
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https://ar.harpersbazaararabia.com/%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AB%D9%85-%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%84-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%8F%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%B2
Previous blog Post on The House of Al Bu Said:
https://royaleventsintheword.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-final-sultan-of-zanzibar-worlds.html
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