Bhutan’s king is set to marry – Royal wedding

Bhutan’s King is Set to Marry

The 31-year-old king of Bhutan is setting up another wedding on Friday by announcing his engagement.

Kinley Dorji Dasho told AFP by telephone from the capital Thimphu that Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck unveiled its plans at the opening of parliament.
“The king presided over the opening of parliament this morning and during the ceremony, he announced he would marry in October,” said Dorji.

The king’s wife-to be, Jetsun Pema, is a commoner who studied in UK and Britain as well as in Bhutan. Jetsun Pema is the daughter of an airline pilot but distant royal connections.

Local media called the king’s bride a bourgeois. The announcement launches a year of marriage to a royal wedding that Britain has seen Prince William marry Kate Middleton in London in an event that drew worldwide attention.

In July, the Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II is marrying his fiancée, Charlene Wittstock, a South-African Olympic backstroke swimmer.

Bhutan, famous for his invention of Gross National Happiness to measure progress and welfare of its citizens is one of the most remote and lonely places, including India and China. It had no roads or currency until the 1960s allowed television only in 1999 and continues to resist the temptation to let the mass tourism — preferring to allow access only to small organized groups of visitors affluent.

The country went from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in 2008, when Bhutan has adopted a constitution and held its first parliamentary elections.

Posted by M.Ferrer on Sunday May 22 2011, 1:47 AM EST. Ref: BBC news. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0