King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan.Photo: Triston Yeo/Getty
Happy 10th wedding anniversary to King Jigme Khesar and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan!
“On this cherished day, the 10th Anniversary of the Royal Wedding, we take the opportunity to thank the guardians protecting Bhutan, for blessing this land with a King and Queen whose benevolence and service knows no parallel,” the post concluded.
After announcing their engagement in May 2011, the royal couple were married 10 years ago in an October 2011 ceremony that doubled as a coronation. The main ceremony took place at Punakha Dzong (“Palace of Bliss”), which has served as both a fortress and a Buddhist monastery.
The couple wore traditional Bhutanese attire for the wedding ceremony. Queen Jetsun Pema chose an elaborate kira, the national dress for Bhutanese women, woven from raw silk. King Jigme Khesar sported a rose patterned yellow silk gho, the very same gho his father and grandfather had worn at their weddings.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan.Paula Bronstein/Getty
October 13–15 were declared a national holiday as part of wedding celebrations. Festivities on the wedding day featured traditional song and dance, archery, a public luncheon and congratulatory salutations (tashi lekdar).
A public celebration was held on October 15 at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, where the couple met with members of the public — and even shared a kiss!
The celebrations continued on October 17, when they couple had a Hindu ceremony.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan.PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty
To celebrate their 10th anniversary, the royal family recently shared a new family photo with their son the Dragon Prince (as 5-year-oldPrince Jigme Namgyel, the heir to the throne, is known) looking all grown up as he stands front and center. Queen Jetsun holds their younger son — Prince Jigme Ugyen, born in March 2020 — in her arms as the Dragon King looks lovingly at his family.
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Bhutan’s royal family.NEWSPIX INTERNATIONAL
King Jigme Khesar and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan are known as the “Prince WilliamandKate Middletonof the Himalayas.” Prince William and Kate, both 39, celebrated their10th wedding anniversarywith their ownset of portraitsin April.
source: people.com
