The Russian beauty queen at the centre of a divorce row with the former King of Malaysia has challenged him to take a DNA test after he claimed their son may not be his.

Rihana Oksana Veovodina married Sultan Muhammad V last year and he dramatically gave up his throne in January amid growing pressure over their relationship.

The Sultan now claims they have divorced, and is said to have 'disinherited' their two-month-old child Leon after raising doubts over the baby's parentage.

His lawyer Koh told a Singapore newspaper there was 'no objective evidence as yet as to the biological father of the child'.

But friends of the former Miss Moscow insist the marriage is still valid and have angrily rejected the Sultan's suggestion that someone else fathered the child - claiming that father and son 'share one face'.

Mother and son: Rihana Oksana Veovodina holds her baby Leon, who is at the centre of a row between the couple after the ex-King of Malaysia 'disinherited' him

Sultan Muhammad V (pictured as King of Malaysia in July 2018) gave up his throne in January this year to be with the Russian model

Oksana, who is now living with her child in a country house near Moscow, is now demanding a 'public apology' from the former head of state.

Her close friend Liliya Nastaeva, 32, said today of the Sultan's fatherhood claims: 'What nonsense.

'We are very sorry that his royal, though former, highness chose such a talkative and unprofessional lawyer.

'All people close to Oksana - her parents, friends, family - are waiting for a public apology from him.

'And if (the former king) has some suspicions, then he can always do a DNA test. Oksana, for her part, is ready for this - I can tell you as I am her closest friend.

Rihana Oksana Veovodina married Sultan Muhammad V (pictured together) last year and he dramatically gave up his throne in January amid growing pressure over their relationship

'If Oksana had ever shown the face of a child, no one would have any doubts, because father and son share one face.'

Asked if the Sultan had seen the child, Liliya - who formerly ran a Moscow beauty parlour with Oksana - replied: 'I don't think I can talk about it.'

Oksana's lawyer in Moscow, Evgeny Tarlo, a former Russian senator, told MailOnline the fatherhood claims were 'lies' and a 'vulgar stupidity'.

He challenged the Singapore lawyer to prove he was acting for the ex-king.

'I do not know who Mr Koh Tien Hua is, and by what right is he commenting on the personal life of Oksana Voevodina,' he said.

'He must show his credentials.'

He insisted to Komsomolskaya Pravda news paper in Moscow that there had been no divorce, despite widespread reports to the contrary.

'There was no divorce, I tell you with all responsibility,' he said.

'As for paternity, what is there to comment on? It is they who must prove that the child is a stranger, and it is not for us to justify ourselves.

Lyudmila Gorbatemko (pictured) is the mother of the bride, and is believed to be helping take care of the two-month-old baby in Moscow

Friends of the former Miss Moscow (pictured in her beauty queen days) insist the marriage is still valid and have rejected the Sultan's suggestion that someone else could have fathered the child

'Oksana is a married woman, and Faris [the ex-king] is the father of her child. It is immutable.'

Royal sources have said that the Sultan intends to 'provide for' the mother and child but they have not been granted royal titles.

The couple married in a secret Islamic ceremony on June 7 last year, when Muhammad V still ruled as King of Malaysia.

A further ceremony then followed in November 2018 in Moscow, details of which leaked out to the media.

Concerns began to grow in Malaysia after lurid reports emerged about the beauty queen's past, including a Russian reality show appearance in which she was reportedly filmed having sex in a swimming pool.

A collection of raunchy modelling pictures also began to circulate, fuelling further discontent in conservative Malaysia.

Facing growing pressure, Sultan Muhammad V dramatically gave up his throne in January this year to be with the Russian model.

The couple married in Moscow last year in a shock ceremony, before Muhammad abdicated his throne in January. She gave birth in May

Oksana Veovodina, the Russian beauty queen who married a Malaysian sultan, released a video of the pair talking about their marriage amid reports that they have gotten divorced

The abdication was the first for the country since its independence from British rule in 1957.

Lawyers for the Sultan insist that the couple have now divorced after Muhammad performed a ceremony in which he rejected his wife three times in the presence of witnesses.

However, the divorce proceedings have been shrouded in secrecy, and Kelantan officials earlier denied any knowledge of them.

Oksana has not commented directly on the latest twists but posted: 'When you are a good person, you don't lose people, people lose you.'

Earlier she insisted she was 'so proud that Malaysian blood flows in the veins of my son', also saying she hoped one day he would be Malaysian king.

The royal bride's father Andrey Gorbatenko refused to comment on the scandal.

'I'm sorry, I won't say anything, I'm on holiday,' he said.

Previously he said that if he doubted the king he would not have given his blessing to their marriage.

After Muhammad's abdication, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah - a keen athlete who holds a string of positions on sporting bodies - was chosen as Malaysia's new king during a special meeting of the country's Islamic royalty.

Malaysia has unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between the Islamic royal rulers of the country's nine states.