The Queen of Bhutan, Jetsun Pema, turns 34 on June 4th. To celebrate, the Royal Household has published two portraits of the young sovereign posing with the princess Sonam Yangden, born last September. The little princess of the “happiest country in the world” was given two significant names: Sonam indicates merit, longevity and luck, while Yangdem means precious jewel, prosperity and well-being. With their arrival, the Bhutanese kings Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 44 years old, and Jetsun Pema have formed a large family with two children, the heir to the throne Jigme Namgyel8 years old, and Jigme Ugyen4 years.
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In the new portraits, in which the King wishes his wife a “happy 34th birthday”, Jetsun Pema, known in the West as the “Kate Middleton of the Himalayas” for her beauty and style, wears a traditional dress made up of a blue satin blouse with champagne cuffs and a blue and brown patterned skirt. With her hair down and parted in the middle, small earrings and a delicate pendant around her neck, she sits in a flower garden, holding her almost nine-month-old little princess in her arms. The little girl, hand in hand with her mother, smiles at the camera in a cheerful white dress with blue patterns and touches of yellow. In the second photo, mother and daughter, surrounded by roses, are accompanied by a cute dog, probably the mascot of the Bhutanese royal family.
When Jetsun Pema and Jigme Khesar got married in 2011, he was already King. She, a distant cousin of her husband, a member of an aristocratic Bhutanese family who studied at the University of London, became Queen consort on their wedding day, at age of 21 years. The King, who also studied in the United States and at Oxford, ascended the throne in 2006 after his father’s abdication Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth Dragon King, when the then crown prince was only 26 years old. Unlike him, who has four wives (the current Dragon King is the son of the third, Tshering Yangdon)Jigme Khesar has broken a tradition: his only companion will in fact be his Dragon Queen, Jetsun Pema.
