One announcement on state television, read out without a single word of explanation, and a woman stopped being a princess. The court in Brunei stripped all titles and dignities from Pengiran Raabiatul Adawiyah, wife of Prince Abdul Malik, who is fourth in line to the throne. Effective immediately. With no right of appeal, because in an absolute monarchy an appeal does not exist.

The wording in the announcement is vague enough to mean everything and nothing: conduct unbecoming of the wife of a member of the royal family, conduct that tarnished the „good name” and showed a lack of respect towards the sultan, the queen and the family. What exactly did she do? That was not said. And that is precisely the point - when nobody has to explain, everybody is left guessing.

It is worth recalling how all this began. In April 2015 the Istana Nurul Iman palace staged a wedding still cited among the most expensive in the world - ten days of celebration for a 22-year-old data analyst named Dayangku Raabiatul Adawiyah Pengiran Haji Bolkiah. The sultan personally blessed the union by placing his son's hand on the bride's head and granted her the title Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Isteri, the rank of princess and royal consort.

Eleven years later, that same rank was erased with one announcement. The wedding lasted ten days, the removal lasted one sentence.

The decision comes in the middle of celebrations for the 80th birthday of Hassanal Bolkiah, the monarch who underwent successful knee surgery in January and whose health has itself become a topic. In a state where the sultan is also prime minister, defence minister and finance minister, a move like this is not family drama - it is a reminder of who holds the whole structure together.

Will anyone in Brunei ask what the bride actually did? Unlikely. The question still hangs for anyone reading from outside: what is a title worth if it can be taken away without a single piece of evidence being presented? The answer, at least there, is that it was never hers to begin with. It was on loan.