'He who is made Lord'[3] Jawi: يڠ دڤرتوان اݢوڠ‎), is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia.

He was elected on 26 October 2023, at a special meeting of the Conference of Rulers; he took the oath of office and was sworn in at the Istana Negara on 31 January 2024.

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia and Acts of Parliament made in accordance with it define the extent of his powers as the head of state.

The discretionary powers of the king as stated by the Constitution and laws pertain chiefly to appointing the prime minister, withholding consent to dissolve Parliament, and calling meetings with the Conference of Rulers "concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of Their Royal Highnesses".

Under the Westminster system, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is expected to appoint a prime minister who will command the confidence of a majority of the Dewan Rakyat, the elected lower house of Parliament.

[6] The king appoints numerous high-ranking office holders in the federation under the terms of the Constitution and various legislative acts passed by Parliament.

The next in line, Abu Bakar of Pahang, Sultan of Pahang since 1932, was rejected five times by his fellow electors and did not secure the necessary votes, in part because his various marriages to celebrities and cabaret dancers were seen as unbecoming of royalty – especially with the revelation (according to an oral interview with Tunku Abdul Rahman) of a surprise wedding to a ronggeng dancer and their honeymoon to Hong Kong.

The selection of the candidate for the kingship initially followed an order based on the seniority (calculated by length of reign) of each ruler in 1957, at the Federation of Malaya's independence from the United Kingdom.

On taking office as king months after election, he appoints a regent for the duration of his five-year term for the state which he rules.

Since the first cycle of nine kings (1957–1994), the order among the eligible state rulers has followed the order established by that cycle, namely: With Brunei's decision not to participate in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, only the rulers of the nine royal states of Peninsular Malaysia have been made eligible for election for the throne.

Had it been admitted as a royal state the Sultan of Brunei would have been granted the right to stand for election as king by the Conference of Rulers.

Sarawak previously had three hereditary rulers (the White Rajahs) until it became a Crown colony of the British Empire in 1946.

In 1993, amendments to the Malaysian constitution removed the legal immunity of the king and the state rulers in their personal capacity, due to public outrage over their behaviour.

[8] A Special Court (Mahkamah Khas Raja-raja) is established where civil and criminal proceedings can be made against a ruler with the approval of the Attorney General.

The official residence of the King is the Istana Negara (the National Palace) located in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim in the federal capital Kuala Lumpur.

Other residences include the royal retreat, Istana Melawati in the federal administrative capital Putrajaya.

The very common term "King" has also been conveniently used by the media and the public, although incorrectly as it is not an official or legal title of the federal ruler.

In formal English correspondence, for many years the King was referred to as "His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong".

The queen's standard is green in colour, with the coat of arms at the centre surrounded by the paddy wreath.

The deputy king's standard is bicolored, yellow at the top and light blue at the bottom, with the coat of arms at the centre (without the paddy) and below that is the office bearer's title in a gold scroll.

After the installation of Sultan Muhammad V as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2017, the date for the official birthday was amended twice, first to the last Saturday of July,[11] and then to September 9.

From 2021, subsequent iterations of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's birthday throughout Sultan Abdullah's reign will fall on the first Monday of June instead.

The Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur serves as the venue for the annual Yang di-Pertuan Agong's Birthday Honours List and Address to the Nation ceremony attended by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong, members of the Federal Government and Parliament, the state diplomatic corps, honoured guests and the Honours List members for the year, in the order of precedence of state medals.

The event honours the year's national achievers and heroes with the awarding of state orders, medals and decorations and their accompanying titles.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong addresses the whole nation via radio and television on this day from the Throne Room of the palace complex.

Trooping the Colour in Malaysia, although inherited from the British, has transformed into a grander and more Malaysian celebration on the first Saturday of June annually live on Kuala Lumpur's Independence Square, which is both open to invited guests and the general public.

The award of scholarships was held at the Istana Negara in conjunction with the Independence Day celebrations and the Conference of Rulers.