KUALA LUMPUR: Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has been conferred France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’Honneur, for her role in promoting the French culture and language in Malaysia.
She was awarded the Chevalier (Knight) de la Légion d’Honneur from French President Francois Hollande. The medal was presented to Tengku Zatashah by French Ambassador to Malaysia Christophe Penot at a ceremony here tonight.
“By conferring this award, the French authorities wish to reward the important role played by Tengku Zatashah as President of Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur for the past 5 years,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that the Selangor princess was already the organisation’s vice president since 2009.
Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur is a non-profit organisation established in 1961 as the official French culture and language centre in Malaysia.
The Légion d'Honneur is France’s highest honour, created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Tengku Zatashah’s conferment was witnessed by Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and his consort Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin; Tengku Zatashah’s husband, Datuk Aubry Mennesson; and Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, among others.
Tengku Zatashah was also previously attached with the L’Oreal headquarters in Paris for five years as their International Corporate Communications manager. She also studied in Paris at the La Sorbonne University and furthered her Master’s degree at the American Graduate School in Paris.
She completed her Finance for Executives programme at the French business school, Insead.