Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia has broken her silence about her controversial marriage to Malaysian royalty, which she described as coercive, abusive and not consensual. The 33-year-old said the union with Prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra of Kelantan was not a legitimate “marriage” because she was only 16 at the time, lacked freedom, and was effectively unable to give informed consent.
In a detailed Instagram post, Odelia objected to being called the prince’s “ex-wife,” saying the label misrepresents what she went through and inaccurately frames the historic union as a normal adult relationship. “Using the term ‘mantan istri’ implies a lawful, voluntary, adult relationship and marriage. That implication is false. It reframes a coercive situation as a legitimate relationship and distorts the reality of what occurred. I ask Indonesian media, editors, writers and digital platforms (including Google and Wikipedia) to stop using this label when referring to me. Continuing to introduce articles with this mischaracterisation is not only inaccurate, it is unethical journalism,” she wrote.
Odelia says she could not give informed consent
According to reports, Oedlia said that what happened when she was a minor was “not a romantic relationship, not a consensual relationship, and not a legal marriage.” Odelia further added that “At the time, I was a minor and was in a situation of coercion and lack of freedom, meaning I did not have a real choice or the capacity to give consent.”
The relationship drew intense media attention in 2008 when Manohara Odelia married the Prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra, the son of the Sultan of Malaysia’s Kelantan state, but Manohara later revealed that her life inside the Kelantan royal palace was marked by strict control and isolation, with extremely limited contact with family and severe restrictions on her movements. Reports say that she faced alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse during her stay.
In early 2009, about a year after the marriage, she escaped from a Singapore hotel where the royal family was staying. Odelia was assisted by her mother, local police and officials from the U.S. embassy. She managed to run away and return to Indonesia.
