Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah (; born 14 August 1959) is the Queen of Malaysia (Raja Permaisuri Agong) and the Permaisuri of

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

as the wife of Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar. She was born as a member of the

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

royal family. While still attending

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, she married the heir to the throne of Johor. Now a mother of six, she participates in the work of non-governmental organisations and universities, and writes a periodical column for a newspaper.

Early life and education

Raja Zarith Sofiah was born at Batu Gajah Hospital, in

, on 14 August 1959 as the third child and second daughter of Sultan Idris Shah II of Perak and Raja Perempuan Muzwin binti Raja Ariff Shah. Her parents were first step-cousins once removed. She is a second step-cousin of Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak. Sultan Azlan's paternal grandfather, her paternal grandfather and her mother's paternal grandfather were children of Sultan Idris Shah I of Perak, all with different mothers. She attended Datin Khadijah Primary School and then Raja Perempuan Kelsom School in

Kuala Kangsar Kuala Kangsar (Perak Malay: ) is the royal town of Perak, Malaysia. It is located at the downstream of Kangsar River where it joins the Perak River, approximately northwest of Ipoh, Perak's capital, and southeast of George Town, Penang, Ge ...

, before moving on to

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic edu ...

to complete her secondary education. She attended

and obtained her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Chinese studies Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization p ...

from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1983 and her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1986.

Current activities

Raja Zarith Sofiah is the chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, the Royal Advisor to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society, the Chairman of the Yayasan (Foundation) Raja Zarith Sofiah Negeri Johor (YRZSNJ) of the State of Johor and the Chairman of the Tunku Laksamana Johor Cancer Foundation (TLJCF) of Johor. She is also a Fellow of the School of Language Studies and Linguistics,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia The National University of Malaysia (, abbreviated as UKM) is a public research university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), ...

(UKM). She delivered the keynote address at the 2011 UKM International Language Conference. She is the Royal Patron of Oxford University Malaysia Club UMC(beginning Michaelmas 2011). Raja Zarith is a strong advocate of improving the use of English in Malaysia. In addition to Malay and English, she speaks

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and French. She has authored several children's books (illustrator also), including ''Puteri Gunung Ledang'', and writes for ''The Star'''s "Mind Matters" column (previously also in the newspaper ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

''). Raja Zarith supports various charitable and non-governmental organisations. She is a patron of the Spastic Children's Association of Johor, the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

Tebrau Tebrau or Teberau is a mukim and a town in Johor Bahru District, Johor, Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional mona ...

Heart Fund and the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association. She is also the Chair of the Community Services Committee of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. Raja Zarith Sofiah is also active in religious activities. There is a foundation which is named after her which is called ''Yayasan Raja Zarith Sofiah Negeri Johor'' (YRZSNJ). It was launched on 28 November 2012 at the Kuala Lumpur campus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia The foundation's purpose is to generate funds for various educational programmes. The foundation was set up after the Sultan of Johor and she agreed with the proposal by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, in line with the Royal Johor Institution, in developing the teachings of Islam.

Marriage and children

On 22 September 1982, Raja Zarith Sofiah married the then Tunku Mahkota (Crown Prince) of Johor, Tunku Ibrahim Ismail. After the marriage, she was styled as Her Highness Raja Zarith Sofiah, Isteri Tunku Mahkota (Consort of the Crown Prince) of Johor. Tunku Ibrahim Ismail was proclaimed the 25th

Sultan of Johor The Sultan of Johor (Malay language, Malay: ''Sultan Johor''; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a hereditary seat and the sovereign ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a '' ...

after the death of his father on 23 January 2010. On 22 November 2010 in conjunction with Sultan Ibrahim's 52nd birthday celebration, Raja Zarith was bestowed upon her the style of Duli Yang Maha Mulia (Her Royal Highness), until her coronation took place on 23 March 2015. On her coronation day, she was conferred the title Permaisuri of Johor (The Queen consort) with the style as Her Majesty. She and Sultan Ibrahim have six children: * Tunku Ismail Idris Abdul Majid Abu Bakar, the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (born 30 June 1984) * Tunku Tun Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah (born 8 April 1986) * Tunku Idris Iskandar, the Tunku Temenggong of Johor (born 25 December 1987) * Tunku Abdul Jalil, the Tunku Laksamana of Johor (5 July 1990 – 5 December 2015) *

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...

, the Tunku Panglima of Johor (born 5 February 1993) *Tunku Abu Bakar, the Tunku Putera of Johor (born 30 May 2001)

Notable published works

* ''On Common Ground: A Collection of Articles'' (2013)

Titles and styles

As a Permaisuri of Johor, Raja Zarith Sofiah's full style and title in Malay: ''Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, D.K. (I), D.K. (II), D.M.N., S.P.M.J., S.I.M.J., P.S.I., D.K. (Perak), S.P.C.M., Permaisuri Johor'' in English: ''Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, D.K. (I), D.K. (II), D.M.N., S.P.M.J., S.I.M.J., P.S.I., D.K. (Perak), S.P.C.M., Permaisuri of Johor'' In her tenure as a

Raja Permaisuri Agong The Queen of Malaysia, officially ''Raja Permaisuri Agong'' ( Jawi: ) is the consort of the ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'', the elected, constitutional federal monarch of Malaysia. Title and precedence The queen's full style and title in Mala ...

, Raja Zarith Sofiah's full style and title in Malay: ''Raja Zarith Sofiah'' in English: ''Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia'' or simply ''Her Majesty The Queen of Malaysia''

Honours

Honours of Johor

First Class of the Royal Family Order of Johor (DK I) * Most Esteemed Royal Family Order of Johor - ribbon bar

Second Class of the Royal Family Order of Johor (DK II) * Order of the Crown of Johor ribbon bar

First Class of the

Order of the Crown of Johor The Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Johor ( Malay: ''Darjah Mahkota Johor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an Order of chivalry awarded by the Sultan of Johor. It was first instituted on July 31, 1886. It is awarded in three classes: *Knight Grand Co ...

(SPMJ) – Datin Paduka *

Order of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor-Darjah Sultan Ibrahim Johor SMIJ DMIJ SIJ

Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor (SMIJ) – Datin Paduka (23 March 2017) * Sultan Ibrahim of Johor Medal ribbon

First Class of the Sultan Ibrahim Coronation Medal (PSI, 23 March 2015)

National and state honours

* : ** Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (DMN, 5 June 2024) * : ** MY-PERA Royal Family Order of Perak - DK

Recipient of the Royal Family Order of Perak (DK, 15 July 2024) ** Knight Grand Commander of the Order of Cura Si Manja Kini (SPCM) – Dato' Seri (4 March 1983)

Honorary doctorate

* : ** Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

– (22 July 2017)Nottingham
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Ancestry

References

External links

*
"Mind Matters"
at ''The Star'' {{Portal bar, Malaysia, Biography, Royalty, Monarchy Johor royal consorts House of Temenggong of Johor Royal House of Perak Living people 1959 births People from Perak Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian Muslims People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College People associated with the National University of Malaysia Queens consort of Malaysia Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Zarith First Classes of the Royal Family Order of Johor Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Johor