Tunku Puan Zanariah

Tunku Puan Zanariah Iskandar (Jawi: تونكو ڤوان زانريه إسكندر), formerly known as Sultanah Zanariah (born Tengku Zanariah binti Tengku Ahmad; 5 July 1940 – 17 March 2019), was the second wife of the fourth Sultan of modern Johor, Sultan Iskandar from their marriage in 1961 until his death in 2010.

Born on 5 July 1940, in Dusun Green Palace, Pasir Mas, Kelantan.

Tengku Zanariah was the seventh child of HH Tengku Panglima Raja of Kelantan from among nine siblings.

She came from the Kelantan royal family.

Her father, the late Tengku Panglima Raja Tengku Ahmad was a son of Almarhum Tengku Temenggong Tengku Abdul Ghaffar Ibni Almarhum Long Senik Mulut Merah (Sultan Muhammad II).

Tengku Zanariah was enrolled into Sultanah Zainab School, Kelantan an elementary school where she studied from 1946 to 1949.

Between 1950 and 1952 she studied at the Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur before returning to Kelantan where she continued her studies at Sultan Ibrahim School, Pasir Mas.

With the encouragement of her father and her own desire to equip herself for the future, she left for England in 1954 to further her studies at the Upper Chime School, Isle of Wight.

While studying in England, Tengku Zanariah met Tunku Mahmood Iskandar (later Sultan Iskandar) who was also studying there.

She went to compete internationally representing Federation of Malaya at the first Miss International beauty pageant in 1960 at the Long Beach, California, United States.

She failed to place in the semi-finals.

She was also the winner of the first edition of Miss Malaya-International 1960 where she had rights to represent Malaya in the first edition of Miss International 1960 pageant in California, United States.

Unfortunately, she was not placed in the pageant during that time.

During her free time, Tengku Zanariah loved to exercise, ride horses and play golf or tennis.

She was also good in water skiing.

During her younger days, she climbed Gunung Ledang, the highest mountain in Johor.

She is currently the only consort to have done so.

They later married in 1961 (his second marriage) and she later became the mother of six of Tunku Mahmood's children.

Tengku Zanariah is also the former beauty queen and historically was the first ever Miss International Malaysia titleholders.

Her husband became Sultan of Johor in 1981.

Although she was known as Sultanah, she was never formally crowned.

In 1982, Tengku Zanariah sponsored and established the Majlis Wanita Negeri Johor or MAWAR (the Women's Council of Johor), which organises various religious activities such as the celebration of the Prophet's birthday at its headquarters at Sungai Cat Road in Johor Bahru.

MAWAR also collected donations for distribution among flood victims in Johor as well as the less fortunate and the needy.

She served as Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen consort of Malaysia) between 1984 and 1989.

Her sister, Tunku Puan Nora formerly Sultanah Nora was married to the third Sultan of modern Johor, Sultan Ismail.

Her husband died in 2010 and was succeeded by her stepson Tunku Ibrahim Ismail.

In 2011, a government circular issued removed the honorific prefix of 'Sultanah' from her given name, and instructed that she be referred to instead as 'Tunku Puan Zanariah Iskandar' or simply 'Tunku Zanariah'.

The current royal court also does not recognise her as a former holder of the title Sultanah of Johor.

Tengku Zanariah had a passion for the arts.

She also loved cooking and took great care in her daily chores.

She paid special attention to the selection and arrangement of decorations in the palace particularly in preparation for official dinners.

Tengku Zanariah also loved reading especially about culture, history and affairs of neighbouring countries.

Tengku Zanariah died on 17 March 2019.

She was laid to rest next to grave of her late mother, Che Puan Hajah Fatimah at the Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum in Johor Bahru, Johor.

Several places were named after her, including: