Humans of New York, the wildly popular Facebook page that condenses interviewees' lives into succinct sentences, has reignited interest in the allegedly unacknowledged daughter of a former Malaysian sultan.

The whimsical prose of the post told the story of the daughter born out of wedlock from a relationship between a Malaysian king and a commoner from the Philippines.

The post has since received 140,000 reactions and prompted many to fantasise on behalf of the daughter about what the future holds.

A common response has been something along these lines:

However, a brief recounting of the published facts of the story based on old news reports have shed light on a more convoluted history that consisted of allegations of an illicit affair, possible rape, and an ultimate refusal by royalty to officially acknowledge an offspring born out of wedlock.

To summarise succinctly, in Humans of New York style, if this woman's story checks out, it means her father was the late sultan of Pahang and she is the half-sister of the current king of Malaysia.

2001 reports of woman's claims

According to two Malaysiakini reports from March 2001, the 38-year-old woman that Humans of New York interviewed is reportedly the daughter of the late Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang, who is also the father of Malaysia's current king, Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

The woman, Carla Brizuela Shah, was allegedly born out of wedlock, the Malaysiakini articles reported, and that her mother, Dina Brizuela Cooper, was subjected to several "non-consensual sexual encounters with the sultan" while he served as Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1979 to 1984.

The Humans of New York post

In the Humans of New York post on May 9, Carla related the following incident in which she was told by her mother that her father was a king in Malaysia:

"I remember there was a day in kindergarten when we were supposed to bring our dads to school. It was some type of performance or something. I’d never met my father. So I asked my mom if he could come, and she told me: ‘He’s too busy. He lives in Malaysia. And he’s a king.'"

Carla added that she initially thought the story by Dina was "an elaborate story" to comfort her, given her mother's single status and the fact that they had immigrated from the Philippines when she was six, and were living in a rented room.

Mother had supposedly met the sultan while working as a nurse in Malaysia

In addition, whenever Carla pressed her mother for more details, Dina would "become withdrawn" and only reveal that she met the king at a party while working as a nurse in Malaysia.

However, when the daughter was 14, a meeting in London was arranged via phone call seemingly out of the blue, which led to Carla meeting her father for the first time when she was already a teenager.

Malaysiakini reported that this meeting took place in October 1990.

Carla described the meeting in some detail, such as how her father was accompanied by an entourage, "was very polite", and he said that she looked like her older sister.

Her mother "did the majority of the talking" at the meeting, Carla said, and made the following demands:

• Financial support, which was provided for,
• Paternity in writing, which was not agreed to, and
• A photo of the woman together with her father, which captured the moment for posterity for good.

Carla added that in the wake of the meeting, she subsequently met her father two more times, with both instances occurring in London and for an hour.

Carla further stated: "But I was never brought into the family. I was never fully acknowledged."

Carla's mother also desired for the sultan to acknowledge his daughter

Malaysiakini reported that Dina also appeared to have shared her daughter's desire to be acknowledged by the former sultan.

Dina was reported saying: "It is unfair to her to be treated as an outcast. She just wants to visit her father and get to know her half-brothers and sisters."

The mother also claimed that Carla had no desire to become a royal.

Settlement talks between Dina and the sultan failed

Ultimately, negotiations for settlement, which started in 1997 between Dina and the late sultan, failed.

Letters exchanged between both parties during the negotiations were subsequently put up on a website by Dina, Malaysiakini highlighted.

This move was construed by the royal family as desire for publicity and to drag the issue through the mud.

Mother allegedly wanted daughter to be part of sultan's inheritance

A source close to the Pahang royal family told Malaysiakini that Dina had supposedly wanted Carla to be part of the sultan's inheritance.

Dina was also allegedly unhappy with the amount offered by the sultan, which came close to RM10 million (S$3.25 million).

The source added that this included the sultan's agreement to transfer a property in Los Angeles to Dina, for her to hold in trust for her daughter.

The property was reported to be a six-bedroom house near Beverly Hills, with a value of US$1.1 million (S$1.55 million).

It also included an offer by the sultan to pay Dina US$100,000 (S$141,270), on top of an additional annual US$50,000 (S$70,635) for six years for Carla's education, starting from 1999.

The source also said that since the start of the negotiations, Carla and Dina had already received US$130,000 (S$183,651).

Moreover, the palace source said Sharia law does not allow an eventual inheritance to be made.

The same royal representative had also dismissed accusations that the sultan had coerced Dina into a non-consenting sexual relationship.

Mother: Talks failed because they did not accept terms

Dina said the talks ultimately failed because the sultan and his lawyers rejected the multiple conditions imposed.

These conditions were:

• A written acknowledgement of Carla's paternity,
• That Carla be allowed to visit her father annually,
• That Carla be accepted as one of the sultan's children, and
• That Carla have the right to inquire into potential inheritance after her father passes.

Dina also alleged that the sultan and his lawyers "back-pedalled on the financial commitments they had agreed upon" and that once the negotiations failed, the sultan had supposedly stopped all remittances to the two of them.

Dina had stressed to Malaysiakini that money was not a factor in negotiations with the sultan.

In reiterating that she had been discreet about the matter over many years, Dina said:

"I sent him letters, pictures, Carla's birth certificate and left telephone messages at the Istana for him. What I was attempting to do all these years was to be discreet and to protect his reputation, standing, image and dignity by not going public about his shameless actions."

However, the mother eventually decided to post the letters on the negotiations online as she felt that she could no longer let him "get away with shirking his responsibilities and obligation to his child".

The interview is likely the result of a self-submitted story, given that earlier on March 16, Humans of New York had put up a post calling for people to send in a "happy story" as part of its Humans of New York - Quarantine Edition, for selection to be featured on the page.

Top image collage from Humans of New York Facebook