King Jigme of Bhutan + Queen Jetsun
Your unusual love story
Queen Jetsun and King Jigme of Bhutan in December 2022
© PPE / Picture Alliance
When he was a teenager, King Jigme of Bhutan met his current wife, Jetsun Pema. She proposed to him when she was just seven years old.
Bhutan is a small Buddhist kingdom founded by King Jigme, 43, and his wife, Queen Jetsun, 33, rule. The enchanted area in South Asia is one of the most remote countries in the world on the eastern edge of the Himalayas between India and Tibet and is subject to strict entry restrictions. It’s almost as big as that Switzerland and influenced by spectacular mountain landscapes as well as traditional monasteries and fortresses – the dzongs.
The almost 760,000 residents adore and love their royal couple, who now have three children together. Just as special as their monarchy is the beginning of Jigme and Jetsun’s love story.
King Jigme of Bhutan met Jetsun when she was seven years old
As early as 1997, almost ten years before Jigme became king of the Land of the Thunder Dragon in 2006, he is said to have met his current wife during the summer holidays. He was 17 then and little Jetsun Pema was seven years old.
Jetsun was reportedly so fascinated by the heir to the throne that she proposed to him. With this she is said to have secured a place in Jigme’s heart. Allegedly, Jigme agreed to Jetsun’s parents’ conditions that he would marry her if she was still single at the age of 18 and had not found a partner.
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Wedding ceremony in Bhutan’s holiest place
And that’s how it happened. In May 2011, King Jigme announced his engagement to pilot’s daughter Jetsun during a parliamentary session when she was still 20 years old. A few months after her 21st birthday, the couple married on October 13, 2011 in a lavish two-hour ceremony.
The wedding took place in the Punakha monastery fortress, the holiest place in Bhutan, located 70 kilometers northeast of the capital Thimphu. Around 1,500 guests were invited and the highest clergyman conducted the traditional wedding ceremony, where every minute was planned in detail and broadcast on television.
King Jigme of Bhutan and Queen Jetsun on their wedding day.
© ASSOCIATED PRESS | Kevin Frayer/Picture Alliance
King Jigme’s father has four wives
For the now father of three, King Jigme, who is considered close to the people and down-to-earth, there is sometimes only one wife – in contrast to his father. Former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, 68, has been married to four sisters since 1979, with whom he has a total of ten children. Such polygamy does not belong to the Buddhist tradition and is officially banned in Bhutan. Therefore, the formal approval of the religious leader of Bhutan was required at the time.
In Bhutan, three quarters of the population adhere to the Buddhist faith. The clergy ruled the Himalayan state for centuries. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that the country became a monarchy after decades of disputes between the individual provinces.
Queen Jetsun and King Jigme of Bhutan with two of their three children Prince Ugyen and heir to the throne Prince Jigme
© Dana Press
That was more than 100 years ago, and since then the Wangchuk dynasty has been at the head of government – now with its fifth king.
Sources used: “Travelling to distant worlds: Bhutan”, accessed from: ardmediathek.de, tatlerasia.com, Dana Press, spiegel.de