Tunku Soraya was born on 30 April 1960 in
Alor Setar,
Kedah. She is the biological daughter of Tunku Hamidah, daughter of
Sultan Badlishah of Kedah and her husband Tengku Abdul Aziz, son of
Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah of Terengganu. She has a twin sister, the late Tunku Sarina binti Tengku Abdul Aziz who was married to Tunku Abdul Karim bin Tunku Ziauddin al-Haj. Tunku Sarina died in 1991 and was buried at the
Langgar Royal Mausoleum. On her biological father's side, she is a cousin of the 29th and current Sultan of Kedah,
Sultan Sallehuddin, whilst on her adoptive father's side, she is also related to him as a niece. On 3 May 1960,
Sultan Abdul Halim and his wife
Sultanah Bahiyah adopted both their then three-day old newborn twin nieces, Tunku Soraya and Tunku Sarina as their daughters whilst awaiting the birth of their own child. Six years later in 1966, the royal couple welcomed their only biological daughter,
Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz. ==Education==