Queen of Johor writes heartfelt letter to her late son
The Permaisuri (queen) of Johor laid bare her anguish for the world to see.
Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris penned a letter to her son, the late Tunku Abdul Jalil Sultan Ibrahim, and posted it on her Facebook page on Tuesday (Dec 8).
Writing first in English and then in Malay, she described how, even while he was lying on his hospital bed fighting the pain that he was experiencing, the prince asked his mother not to cry because he was all right.
Even more heartbreaking was the queen's description of her confusion during the burial ceremony as she momentarily forgot that she was attending the burial of one of her sons.
I looked at your brothers and counted three sons. Boo was beside me. There are five of you. Where was my fifth son?
And then I realised it was you who was missing.
I had forgotten you were beneath the mounds of earth. - Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris
The emotional post has been shared over 42,000 times since it was posted.
Facebook users flooded the post with comments that expressed their condolences.
The prince, Tunku Abdul Jalil, died of cancer on Saturday (Dec 5).
Born on July 5, 1990, Tunku Abdul Jalil was the fourth of six children of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.
A known animal lover, he volunteered as a zookeeper at the Singapore Zoo for a year and the London Zoo for two years.
He is a graduate of zoological and conservation studies from a British university.
Regarded as Johor's favourite prince, Tunku Abdul Jalil often visited patients at Sultan Ismail Hospital and Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru to talk to them and cheer them up.
It is understood that members of the Johor royal family were at his bedside when he died.
Source: Facebook
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