Wider World by CS

Bhutan's Dragon King crowns his bride

• Published: 13/10/2011 at 02:32 PM

Bhutan's 31-year-old king married a student 10 years his junior on Thursday in a colourful ceremony showcasing the rich Buddhist culture of one of the world's most remote and insular countries.

King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (L) and future queen Jetsun Pema stand together during their marriage ceremony in the main courtyard of the 17th-century fortified monastery or dzong in Punakha on October 13, 2011. Bhutan's 31-year-old king married a student 10 years his junior in an isolated valley high in the Himalayas.

Amid clouds of incense and chanting monks, the hugely popular King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck crowned his queen at the end of a series of rituals in the 17th-century fortified monastery chosen for the occasion.
After a brief purification ceremony to start, they walked hand-in-hand and smiling to the inner sanctum of the monastery where an hour of blessings, prostrations and prayers culminated in the queen taking the throne.
The "Dragon King", an Oxford graduate who came to power in 2008 at the start of democracy in Bhutan, married Jetsun Pema, the daughter of an airline pilot widely admired for her beauty and her impact on the love-struck monarch.
"She's very sweet and caring and she loves children," one of the king's cousins who studied with the queen, Yiwang Pindarica, told AFP after the marriage. "I'm sure she will help the king fulfil his duties."
Proceedings were beamed live across the country of 700,000 people and signalled the start of three days of joyful celebrations, with dancing, singing and drinking in towns and villages.
Bhutan banned foreign television until 1999 and is the only nation in the world whose government pursues "Gross National Happiness" for its people instead of economic growth.
"You can be sure that our happiness is increasing," joked Karma Tshiteem, the head of the Gross National Happiness Commission, which vets government policy.
After the ceremony, the new queen and her husband, the fifth in a line of hereditary rulers who have reigned for the last 100 years, was due to greet crowds of well-wishers at a public celebration.
"From the day the king announced his wedding we have been excited," lawmaker Jagar Dorji told AFP as he arrived at the monastery, set at the confluence of two rivers and surrounded by mist-shrouded hills.
"This marriage assures the continuity of the royal family."
Pema, who often looked nervous as the heavily symbolic ceremony unfolded, wore an elaborately weaved outfit of gold, red and black.
She smiled anxiously as she received the crown. Her husband struggled to secure the embroidered headpiece which slipped off her hair several times before finally staying put.
Later the couple posed for photos, holding hands in front of the assembled media.
Security was tight around the monastery, with phone networks jammed and police enforcing strict controls on vehicles in a wide area.
On Monday, two small bombs went off in a town on the border with India injuring four people, in attacks claimed by an insurgent group based in Nepal fighting for the rights of ethnic Nepalese in Bhutan.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (left) and future queen Jetsun Pema (Photo BHUTAN'S ROYAL OFFICE FOR MEDIA)

The king, who is known to invite his subjects round for tea, had requested a simple and traditional ceremony. No foreign VIPs or fellow royals were among the assembled dignitaries and friends of the couple.
The Bhutanese royal family are credited with bringing stability to the formerly war-wracked nation and ensuring its independence despite giant neighbours India and China to the north and south.
Bhutan, which has never been colonised, remained in self-imposed isolation for centuries and is still wary of outside influence and the impact of globalisation.
The country had no roads or currency until the 1960s and continues to resist mass tourism to this day. Foreign tourists are encouraged to travel in groups with official guides and pay fees of up to $200 a day.
The announcement of the nuptials in May broke the hearts of the monarch's many admirers. The "prince charming of the Himalayas" was once mobbed on a trip to Thailand by weeping teenagers.
The Elvis fan, who wears his jet-black hair gelled back, is not expected to marry again in a break from previous tradition.
Polygamy is legal in Bhutan and the king's father has four wives, all sisters. Monogamy is increasingly the norm as Bhutan modernises.
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