Azlan Shah was the Sultan of Perak, one of the oldest hereditary seats among the Malay states. Born on 19 April 1928, he was the only son of Sultan Yussuff Izzuddin Shah ibni lmarhum Sultan Abdul Jalil Karamatullah Nasiruddin Mukhartaram Shah Radziallah Hu’an-hu by his second wife Toh Puan Besar Khadijah binti Toh Indera Wangsa Ahmad. His mother was a commoner and so he grew up outside the royal environment. Educated at first at the Government English School, he then attended Malay College, Kuala Kangsar. He travelled to the UK and studied law at Nottingham University graduating in 1953. The following year he was admitted to the English Bar and returned to Malaysia. Initially appointed Assistant State Secretary of Perak, he worked his way rapidly through his chosen profession becoming the youngest judge ever to be appointed to the High Court of Malaya in 1965 at the age of 37. Appointed to the Federal Court in 1973, he became Chief Justice six years later. On being made Lord President of the Federal Court on 12 November 1982, he was the youngest to have ever held the highest judicial post in the country. Due to the demise of his elder brothers, he was made crown prince of Perak in 1983 when he was in his late fifties. When his uncle, Sulton Idris Almuttawakkil Allahi Shah II, passed away in 1984, he succeeded to the throne and was crowned on 9 December 1985. Throughout his career he was associated with higher education and was Pro-Chancellor of the Universiti Sains Malaysia from 1971 to 1981 and Chancellor of the University of Malaya from 1983 until he died. Various prestigious institutions gave him honorary doctorates and he was awarded the honorary fellowship of the college in 1999. His favourite sport was hockey, indeed he was referred to as ‘The father of Malaysian Hockey’ and served on various national and internal bodies associated with the game. In 1955 he married Bainun Binti Mohd and they had two sons and three daughters. When he died on 28 May 2014 aged 86, he was survived by his wife, son Raja Nazrin Shah (who succeeded him as Sultan) and daughters Raja Azureen, Raja Eleena and Raja Yong Sofia. Their son Raja Dato’ Seri Ashman Shah predeceased him on 30 March 2012 when he died from an asthma attack.