American Singer Brittany Porter Seeks Divorce from Former Malaysian King Muhammad V After ‘Accidental’ Marriage

Los Ange­les / Kuala Lumpur — Amer­i­can singer-song­writer Brit­tany Porter, 30, who per­forms under the stage name Brook Lynn, is seek­ing what she calls a “prop­er divorce” from for­mer King of Malaysia Sul­tan Muham­mad V, 56, after dis­cov­er­ing that she had been legal­ly mar­ried to him fol­low­ing what she believed was mere­ly a bless­ing cer­e­mo­ny.

A Whirlwind Romance

Porter says she met Muham­mad V in Jan­u­ary 2024 through mutu­al friends. “We had this instant chem­istry and good ban­ter,” she told reporters. The two quick­ly began dat­ing, enjoy­ing lux­u­ri­ous trips across Asia. Porter described the for­mer monarch as very gen­er­ous, esti­mat­ing that he spent mil­lions of dol­lars on gifts and trav­el dur­ing their rela­tion­ship.

In April 2024, Muham­mad V pro­posed to her with a blue dia­mond ring, which Porter says was cho­sen “to match my eyes.”

An Unexpected Marriage

Dur­ing a trip to Oman that same month, Porter says she par­tic­i­pat­ed in a cer­e­mo­ny that she under­stood to be a reli­gious bless­ing. “In my cul­ture the big cer­e­mo­ny is the wed­ding … So I was con­fused,” she explained. Lat­er, she learned that the rit­u­al — known as a nikah — was, in fact, an Islam­ic mar­riage cer­e­mo­ny and legal­ly bind­ing.

“I was, and still am, his wife in the eyes of Allah,” Porter said, adding that she was encour­aged after­ward to bear a son to con­tin­ue his lin­eage. How­ev­er, their rela­tion­ship began to dete­ri­o­rate fol­low­ing her mis­car­riage.

Breakdown and Silence

Porter says that after return­ing to Cal­i­for­nia to plan a West­ern-style wed­ding, com­mu­ni­ca­tion with Muham­mad V abrupt­ly ceased. “I freaked out and flew to Malaysia, found out he was in Sin­ga­pore, and flew to Sin­ga­pore. He was stay­ing on the top floor of the Four Sea­sons and the front desk wouldn’t let me up,” she recalled.

“I climbed the stair­well, which wasn’t my best moment. He wouldn’t answer his door, so I got a room there and kept tex­ting ask­ing if he want­ed to talk. In the mid­dle of the night, he just got on a plane and left. His but­ler texted me, apol­o­giz­ing.”

Porter lat­er learned through mutu­al friends that the for­mer king con­sid­ered their rela­tion­ship over, describ­ing the pair as “sep­a­rat­ed.”

Seeking Closure

Feel­ing aban­doned, Porter took to social media to demand a for­mal res­o­lu­tion. “I was nev­er giv­en any clo­sure or account­abil­i­ty,” she wrote. “I deserve a prop­er divorce and a sin­cere apol­o­gy.”

The singer is report­ed­ly con­sult­ing legal experts to clar­i­fy her mar­i­tal sta­tus and deter­mine what steps are need­ed to for­mal­ly end the union.

About Sultan Muhammad V

Sul­tan Muham­mad V served as the King of Malaysia from 2016 until his abdi­ca­tion in 2019, after which he resumed his posi­tion as ruler of the north­east­ern state of Kelan­tan. He has been mar­ried three times, includ­ing to Russ­ian beau­ty queen Oxana Voevo­d­i­na in 2018; that mar­riage end­ed in divorce the fol­low­ing year.

A Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding

Porter’s case has drawn inter­na­tion­al atten­tion for high­light­ing the com­plex­i­ties of cross-cul­tur­al unions and dif­fer­ing mar­i­tal cus­toms. While the nikah cer­e­mo­ny is rec­og­nized as a valid mar­riage under Islam­ic law, it appears Porter was unaware of its legal weight in Malaysia and oth­er Mus­lim-major­i­ty nations.

As of now, Muham­mad V has made no pub­lic com­ment on the mat­ter.