Sultan of Brunei’s Hollywood film producer son, Prince Azim, dies aged 38
Prince Azim, the second son of the Sultan of Brunei who made a career as a Hollywood producer, has died. He was 38.
The government of Brunei announced that the prince died on 24 October in a hospital in Jerudong. The cause of death is not clear, although local media reports suggest that Prince was suffering from liver cancer for some time. Upon announcing the death of the prince, the Brunei authorities declared a seven-day period of national mourning.
The Kingdom of Brunei government confirmed on Monday that Prince Azim, the fourth-in-line to the throne, had died on Saturday morning in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The cause of his death has not been revealed, although the film producer – dubbed the ‘party loving prince’ – had suffered a prolonged serious illness that some thought to be cancer. In keeping with Islamic tradition, his funeral took place on the same day, with his father Hassanal Bolkiah, 29th Sultan of Brunei and one of the world’s wealthiest men, declaring seven days of national mourning (during which celebrations are banned).
The prince was fourth in line to the throne of Brunei, a small oil-rich absolute monarchy in Southeast Asia. His father, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, is one of the wealthiest men in the world, primarily due to Brunei's large reserves of natural resources, and is also one of the longest-reigning monarchs. The prince's father is the owner of the Dorchester Collection of luxury hotels, which include The Dorchester in London, Paris' Plaza Athenee and the Hotel Bel-Air and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Prince Azim was known for his love of the most truly decadent parties which he threw in honour of his A-list friends; he was photographed rubbing shoulders with the likes of Elizabeth Hurley, Naomi Campbell and Dame Joan Collins at international, jet-set locations. He arrived on the social circuit via a week’s officer training at Sandhurst Military Academy – which was ample evidence that it wasn’t the route for him.
Hugely wealthy, Azim’s net worth was estimated at $5 billion at the time of his death. According to the Times, the goody bag at one of his parties was worth £20,000 per head and contained a voucher for a safari holiday in Kenya, a new mobile phone, a satellite navigation system, an original oil painting and a full dental makeover with a private dentist. Other birthdays were reportedly filled with some 6,000 white roses or held at the Dorchester, quite handily owned by his father.
Sometimes styled as Azim Bolkiah, the prince was born in Bandar Seri Begawan on July 29, 1982. He was educated in England, briefly attending the exclusive military academy Sandhurst, before becoming a regular face in London society.
The Times of London valued Prince Azim's personal wealth at $ 5 billion, which he spent generously and lavishly at star-studded parties with Pamela Anderson, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. He was also known for his philanthropy, but poured his heart into his London-based film production company, Daryl Prince Productions, and worked with A-List, an Oscar-winning talent.
A film aficionado, he would reportedly spend whole days watching one film after another and decided to channel his energies into making it as a producer. It was a role he saw some success with, under his industry name, Azim Bolkiah. He produced a film called You’re Not You, starring Hilary Swank as a classical pianist with a debilitating illness, and latterly, he was an executive producer of The Happy Prince, Rupert Everett’s bitter-sweet story about the twilight years of Oscar Wilde, starring Emily Watson and Colin Firth.
Through his production company, Prince Azim produced George C. Wolfe's drama You're Not You in 2014, starring Hilary Swank, Emmy Rossum and Josh Duhamel. A year later he produced Gilles Paquet-Brenner's crime drama Dark Places starring Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Christina Hendricks. In 2016, he produced the comedy Wild Oats, starring Shirley McClaine and Jessica Lange and year later The Time of Their Lives starring Joan Collins. His other producing credits include Rupert Everett's The Happy Prince (2018) starring Colin Firth and Emily Watson and Hellbent (2018) starring Martin Henderson.
Away from the studio, Prince Azim was keen to use his wealth and position to promote numerous good causes in Britain and elsewhere, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Fashion for Relief. He spent much of his time at his family’s London mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens and while some stars would become actual friends, others were more interested in his splashy capabilities and bank balance. Luckily, he was savvy enough to recognise that, admitting, as reported in the news: ‘It comes with the territory’.
In 2019, Prince Azim courted controversy in Hollywood after supporting Brunei's push to introduce strict sharia law including the death penalty for homosexuality and adultery. A whole host of stars including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen Degeneres led a worldwide boycott of the Dorchester Collection hotels.
Azim was born on July 29, 1982 in the capital of Brunei – he was the sixth child and second son of Sultan Bolkiah, who his second wife, Hajah Mariam. He never married and will be remembered as a film producer, designer and a philanthropist.
