Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen hopes to meet not just the great and the good but also the ordinary people of the small sultanate in south-east Asia.

The Queen wants to meet new people

The Royals will sample the lavish hospitality of the Sultan, who rejects his Guinness Book of Records rating as the world's richest man, worth an estimated £25bn.

But the Queen and the Duke have let it be known that, in the successful style of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, they wish to mingle with as many people from ordinary walks of life as possible.

A wide range of guests are being invited to receptions and the itinerary includes trips to a Malay water village, a health centre, a school, and a fruit and vegetable market.

The couple will also take tea with 70 to 80 eminent professional Brunei women, as well as visiting the Jame 'Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque.

There the Queen will cover her head and remove her shoes in respect of Islam.

There will be formal state occasions, like the lavish banquet at the Istana Nurul Iman, said to be the world's biggest palace.

Sultan: Rich but embarrassed by brother

The Istana has domes covered with 22-carat gold leaf and is larger than Buckingham Palace and the Vatican put together.

The Sultan is said to own a fleet of 350 exclusive cars and a squadron of private aircraft, including an Airbus, but the royal party will fly in on a chartered British Airways jet.

The Royals fly on to Malaysia on 20 September for a second state visit during which the Queen will close the Commonwealth Games.

Brunei facts

• The state's full name, Negara Brunei Darussalam, translates as The Nation of Brunei - The Abode of Peace
• Almost one-third of the 300,000 people are temporary immigrant workers
• Vast oil and gas reserves have brought enormous wealth, particularly to the ruling family who have controlled the sultanate since 1365
• The wealth does not find its way everywhere - a recent UN Human Development Report ranked the country 60th when it came to health, education and living standards
• The sultanate gained full independence from Britain 14 years ago
• Polo-loving Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has retained links with the UK where he trained as an army officer at Sandhurst in 1966
• He has been embarrassed by a string of lurid allegations concerning his youngest brother Prince Jefri
• Some claim this year's appointment of a new Crown Prince, 24-year-old Al-Muhtadee Billah was a bid to overcome the negative publicity
• The new Crown Prince also has ties to Britain, where he studied under the guise of a commoner, Omar Hassan, at Oxford University