Brunei’s all-powerful sultan marked 50 years on the throne on Thursday  with lavish celebrations including a glittering procession, a 21-gun salute and a ceremony at his vast, golden-domed palace. The all-powerful and fabulously wealthy sultan celebrated his jubilee by travelling in a gilded chariot through the streets and holding a tradition-filled ceremony at his golden-domed palace. Behind the gilded facade, the Sultan rules the nation with an iron fist: the absolute monarchy bans free elections and a free press, and homosexuality is a crime punishable by death from stoning. The sultan bans Christmas ‘because it could damage the faith of Muslims‘.