From corner shop princess to billionaire wife

Claire Kelly. Photo / Supplied.

Her parents owned a corner dairy - now Claire Kelly is living the lifestyle of the rich and famous as the wife of a royal billionaire.

Nearly a decade ago, the Taranaki woman, now in her mid-30s, packed her bags for the bright lights of Paris and later married playboy Prince Jefri Bolkiah, a Brunei royal with a penchant for fast cars and flash houses.

The former model became his fifth wife - the 53-year-old has two others and has been divorced twice - and is happily married with two young children, living in a London mansion "the size of Eden Park".

But despite once being one of the wealthiest men in the world, Prince Jefri has told the Wall Street Journal he fears becoming homeless and forced into bankruptcy.

He's locked in a legal battle with his elder brother Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, over claims he funded his playboy lifestyle with $18 billion from his homeland's royal treasury.

Little has been revealed of his wife. Even Time and Forbes magazines failed at attempts to write a profile piece after the birth of the couple's first child.

"She has been kept very secret," said Wayne Tempero, one of Prince Jefri's New Zealand-based bodyguards.

"These people have got a lot of money and when they want things hidden, it's not a problem for them.

"Her children are now royal family. Everything is done to protect them."

But today the Herald on Sunday can reveal fresh information about Kelly's Kiwi beginnings.

Her parents ran the 4 Square franchise at the Moturoa Dairy in New Plymouth.

A pretty and popular pupil at New Plymouth Girls High in the late 1980s, Kelly showed talent in dance, music and drama.

A member of the senior debating team and a gifted performer in school productions, Kelly was a polished pianist who once shared the stage with virtuoso Richard Clayderman.

"She was an incredible piano player, an absolute genius," remembered Sarah O'Sullivan, a high school friend.

"I can see how a Prince would find that endearing."

That and her natural beauty.