Tun Fatimah was already married to her cousin, Tun Ali (not to be confused with their ancestor of the same name) when Sultan Mahmud set his sights on her to become his new wife. It is said that the Sultan was upset that Tun Mutahir kept the fact that he had a beautiful daughter away from the sultan and married her off to someone else.[2] To add to the problem, many of the Sultan's courtiers felt alienated with Tun Mutahir who elected members of his clan to important posts in the Malaccan government. One of these courtiers was Shahbandar Raja Mudaliar, the Chief of Port of Malacca who allegedly started a rumour that Tun Mutahir was scheming to take over the throne.