Malaysian royals stop to shop in Texas

EL PASO, Texas, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Malaysia's king and queen picked up some turquoise jewelry and cowboy spurs in El Paso, Texas, last weekend while on their way to a horse race in New Mexico.

The El Paso Times said the FBI was informed about the royal couple's plans to fly into El Paso, but said the FBI told the newspaper it didn't have any other details regarding their trip.

Dusty Henson, owner of the El Paso Saddleblanket Co., confirmed King Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin and his wife, Queen Nur Zahirah, dropped by his store Saturday.

"The lady Malaysian ambassador was in last Thursday. She said the king and queen would be in Las Cruces for some kind of endurance (horse) race and they might want to bring the king and queen into the store Saturday morning," Henson told the Times. "Then I get a call around 10:30 a.m. saying they would be at the (store) in 10 minutes."

Henson said the queen bought turquoise jewelry, while the king treated himself to cowboy spurs and leather belts.

The International Herald Tribune Asia-Pacific described Malaysia's king as an "enthusiastic sportsman who is famously passionate about horse riding, golf, tennis and scuba diving."