Former Welsh coal worker claims to be son of Malaysian sultan

A 71-year-old former coal worker from South Wales has claimed to be a descendant of the Malaysian royal family.

The man, identified as Keith Williams, claims that he is the illegitimate first-born son of the 33rd Sultan of Perak, Idris Iskandar Al-Mutawakkil Alallahi Shah. He says that he has even taken a DNA test to prove it.

Williams hails from Ammanford, South Wales, and has been involved in his adoptive father's family business for as long as he can remember. His mother, Elizabeth Rosa, had given him up for adoption soon after his birth. He wanted answers about his birth family, so he contacted his biological mother five years ago.

He claims that his mother was 17 and was working as a trainee nurse in Surrey when she met his father. The Sultan was then studying in the UK, so Rosa was forced to give up her son, claims Williams.

By the time he tried to contact his alleged biological father, it was too late since he had passed away in 1984. He even flew to Malaysia to meet his alleged birth family, but "was given a cold shoulder."

"I just want to be accepted. I don't care about the title or anything like that. "I know the truth, but I just want closure on this in a way, I want that rubber-stamp to say I am what I know I am," he told The Mirror.

"Whatever the family in Perak think of this he is my father to me and as I see it I have siblings out there who have a sibling in me and it would be nice get round the table and just get to know them," added Williams. He says that he is running out of time and only wants his "family to acknowledge him."

Malaysia has nine Sultanates; each one oversees a different state. The Sultan of Perak is one of the oldest hereditary seats in Malaysia, dating back to 1528.

The country has a constitutional monarchy and they take turns helming the position of the monarch, who is chosen by the Conference of Rulers, consisting of nine Sultans and four governors with no allegiance to the royal family.

Malaysian monarchs play a figurehead role in the country and usually do not intervene in the country's politics.