Tengku Intan Zaharah

Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Tengku Hitam Omar (13 April 1928 – 24 January 2015) was the Tengku Ampuan Tua of Terengganu. She was formerly the Tengku Ampuan (Queen) of Terengganu from 1945 to 1979. She also served as the fourth Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia from 1965 to 1970.

Tengku Intan was born in Singapore on 13 April 1928. Her father, Tengku Setia Raja Terengganu Tengku Hitam Omar, was a member of the Singapore (Johor Bendahara Horeh) royal family, serving in the Terengganu State Civil Service as the State Secretary of Terengganu; he was exiled since the death of the last Sultan of Singapore, Alauddin Alam Shah, in 1897. Her mother was Raja Zainab binti Raja Alang (second wife of her father).

Tengku Intan received her education at the Malay School in Telok Kurau and Katong Convent, Singapore.

Tengku Intan married Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III (then Tengku Paduka Raja of Terengganu) on 3 April 1944 as his second wife. She had no children with him.

On 5 November 1945 the Terengganu State Council of thirteen members announced the dismissal of Sultan Ali Shah and the appointment of Tengku Ismail as the fifteenth Sultan of Terengganu. Tengku Ismail became known as Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah and was installed on 6 June 1949 at Istana Maziah, Kuala Terengganu.

Accordingly, Tengku Intan Zaharah became Tengku Ampuan (Queen) of Terengganu. Tengku Intan served as Raja Permaisuri Agong during her husband's reign as the fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong or King of Malaysia.

In 1979, upon her husband's death she was created Tengku Ampuan Besar (Dowager Queen) of Terengganu. In 1998, on the death of her stepson, Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, she became Tengku Ampuan Tua (Grand Dowanger Queen) of Terengganu.

Tengku Intan died on 24 January 2015 at 3:30 pm in Hospital Pantai, Kuala Lumpur due to pneumonia. She was 86 years old. Her body was brought back to Terengganu and was laid to rest beside her husband grave, Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah at the Royal Mausoleum near Abidin Mosque, Kuala Terengganu.

Titles and styles

• 13 April 1928 – 6 June 1949: Her Highness (Yang Mulia) Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Tengku Hitam Omar
• 6 June 1949 – 21 September 1965: Her Royal Highness (Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia) Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Tengku Hitam Omar, The Tengku Ampuan Besar of Terengganu
• 21 September 1965 – 20 September 1970: Her Majesty (Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda) Tuanku Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Al-Marhum Tengku Seri Setia Raja Tengku Hitam Omar, The Raja Permaisuri Agong IV
• 20 September 1970 – 20 September 1979: Her Royal Highness (Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia) Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Tengku Hitam Omar, The Tengku Ampuan Besar of Terengganu
• 20 September 1979 – 14 May 1998: Her Royal Highness (Yang Maha Mulia) Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Tengku Hitam Omar, The Tengku Ampuan of Terengganu
• 14 May 1998 – 24 January 2015: Her Royal Highness (Yang Maha Mulia) Tengku Intan Zaharah binti Tengku Hitam Omar, Tengku Ampuan Tua Terengganu

Honours

National honours

• Member 1st Class [DK] of the Most Distinguished Family Order of Terengganu.
• Member Grand Companion [SSMT] of the Most Revered Order of Sultan Mahmud I of Terengganu.
• Knight Grand Commander [SMPT] of the Most Distinguished Order of the Crown of Terengganu.
• Member [DMN] of the Most Exalted Order of the Crown of the Realm on 4 April 1966.

Foreign honours

• Dame of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa by the President of the Republic of Korea Park Chung-hee on 7 February 1966.
• Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Queen of Sheba by the Emperor Haile Selassie on 21 May 1968.
• Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the President of Germany Heinrich Lübke on 9 March 1967.
• Golden Heart Medal 1st Class by the President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos on 9 January 1968.
• Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown by the Emperor Hirohito on 19 February 1970.
• Member 1st Class of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit by the President of the Republic of Korea Park Chung-hee on 7 February 1966.
• Member 1st Class of the Order of the Pleiades by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on 17 January 1968.
• Member 1st Class of the Order of Mahaputera by the President of Indonesia Suharto on 16 March 1970.