Brunei - Royal Regalia Museum

No trip to Brunei is complete without a visit to the Royal Regalia Museum. The museum holds all the Royal accouterments that were used in the current Sultan's coronation in 1968. It's also jam packed with gifts from other countries to celebrate the event.


The building is quite new, built under an impressive dome. This dome is reflected in the main hall, which contains all the regalia from the 1968 coronation. Arrayed along one side are the ceremonial costumes and implements carried by various people. There are magic umbrellas, swords, shields, etc. etc. Centre stage though, is the coronation carriage.

The carriage was built especially for the coronation ceremony. It reflects the decade in which it was built. It's a bit hip, it's a big groovy and a bit funky. The net affect is that is reminded me of the Batmobile from the Adam West 1960 Batman TV show. It really is that groovy! Sitting on top was a chair covered in tiger skin. Well, it was originally tiger skin. It's very moth eaten now, but I suspect conservation had caught up with the Sultan and he won't be hunting for a new one.


Behind the main hall, are a whole series of rooms that contain gifts for the coronation. Room after room, there's ornate swords, cups, jugs, stuffed animals, etc. etc. After wandering through a whole lot of rooms, I was all set to leave, when I realised, that there was ANOTHER huge chamber behind the front chamber. This place was deceptively huge!

The second huge chamber held all the regalia associated with the period that marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the coronation. It was similar to the 1968 coronation, but the style of the coronation coach has changed. It looked like the Batmobile from "Batman and Robin". Oh well.

The museum was nicely ordered, with arrows telling you where to walk next and barriers to stop you form going any other way. The walkways make you walk around the entire procession. Around the edge, was full size photos taken of the crowd who lined the street on the day. They were all typical smiling happy Bruneians. Except for one guy. He was sitting in his wheelchair and had a really sour look on his face. I looked down at his hand and there was a stuck on picture of a wallet where his hand should have been! I suspect he must have been making a rude sign with his fingers! He'd been censored. How funny.


Just when I thought it was over, there was ANOTHER chamber at the back, on THREE stories. This was getting a bit much. It was huge. The bit at the back contained a scale model of the Sultan's super humongous palace. Along the walls were pics of lots of ceremonies and dignitaries in the hall. Now that place is huge - much bigger than Buckingham Palace.

Despite it's size, the Regalia museum is well worth a visit. There's so much to see, but it's all well presented and worth a browse.