Bhutan king to marry Jetsun Pema in October

HIMALAYAN GUARDIAN     Vol 1 No 19       Page 1                May 25, 2011

Bhutan king to marry Jetsun Pema in October

Himalayan News Network

Thimphu, May 24: It is now official. The Druk Kingdom’s 31-year-old King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk will marry Jetsun Pema (20) in October this year.

The formal announcement came from the King himself who declared in the Parliament last Friday that he intends to marry Jetsun Pema in October.

"As king, it is now time for me to marry. After much thought I have decided that the wedding shall be later this year," the young King declared.

King Jigme and Jetsun Pema

"While she is young, she is warm and kind in heart and character,” is how the British-educated King described his future wife and Queen of Bhutan.

"These qualities together with the wisdom that will come with age and experience will make her a great servant to the nation," the King said.

King Jigme, who completed his studies at Oxford and was crowned the monarch in 2008, announced his marriage plans on May 20.

The King took over after the abdication in 2006 of his father, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who began the country's democratic transition. In March 2008, Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy and the King relinquished his absolute powers.

Wangchuck, however, is widely revered in the country of some 700,000 people.

The young monarch had known Pema, who has been educated in India and Britain, for "quite some time.”

A biography released by the palace listed her interests as fine arts, painting and basketball.

Jetsun Pema, who was born in Thimphu on June 4, 1990, stands pretty at 5' 10". She had joined the Lawrence School in 2006 and cleared her plus two examination in 2008. Before joining Sanawar, she studied at the St. Joseph's Convent in Kalimpong (West Bengal) and Changangkha Lower Secondary School and Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan. She graduated from Regents College, London.

The future queen of Bhutan comes from the Bumthang Pangtey family and her father, Dhondup Gyaltshen, is the grandson of Trashigang Dzongpon Dopola. Her mother, Sonam Chuki, comes from the family of Bumthang Pangtey. Sonam Chukie, too, is an alumnus of Kalimpong’s St. Joseph’s Convent. Jetsun Pema has two brothers and two sisters.