Do we like them?

Do we like Hassanal Bolkiah?

Our score: 2 out of 10. A penal code providing stoning for gay sex has been in force under his rule since 2019, and the moratorium and the thin good alongside it don't outweigh that.

Hassanal Bolkiah has been Sultan of Brunei since 1967, which makes him the world's longest-reigning monarch, per Reuters. He doesn't just wear the crown: he is also prime minister, defence minister and finance minister. In July 2026 Brunei threw him a big military parade and banquet for his 80th birthday.

The outcry was huge, and the UN condemned the law's introduction. Weeks later the Sultan said the death penalty wouldn't be imposed under the new code, but he also said that once concerns were cleared, “the merit of the law will be evident”. Former German minister Renate Künast called the move a “Step into right direction, but definitely not enough”, and one Gay Times columnist said the laws needed repealing, not just leaving unenforced. Celebrities and rights groups called for a boycott of his hotels, including the Dorchester and the Beverly Hills Hotel, and some multinationals banned staff from using them.

The recent drama is a family one. The palace said he had revoked a daughter-in-law's royal title because of conduct it called unbecoming, saying she had “tarnished the monarchy's good name”. No details were given, and no response from her appeared in the report we read. Treat it as the palace's version only.

In June he reshuffled cabinet for the first time since 2022. He created new portfolios, kept the prime minister, defence and finance jobs, and appointed the highest number of women to cabinet so far, including the education minister. Reuters read the shake-up as possible succession planning, with younger royals getting senior posts, including foreign affairs.

So the verdict: he fails the harm test because the harm is in the law of the land he runs, and he has defended it in his own words. On being a decent person it's a close call, because the record is thin and mostly palace-managed. The pause on stoning is better than no pause, and the women in cabinet are a real step, but they don't cancel a code that still treats gay people as criminals.