Queen Jetsun Pema
Jetsun Pema (Dzongkha: རྗེ་བཙུན་པདྨ་; Wylie: rje btsun padma; born 4 June 1990) is the Queen (Druk Gyaltsuen, which literally means “Dragon Queen”) of Bhutan, as the wife of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
| Jetsun Pema | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Queen of the Kingdom of Bhutan | |||||
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| Reign | 2011 — Present | ||||
| Coronation | 13 October 2011 | ||||
| Born | June 4, 1990 | ||||
| Spouse | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (m. 2011) | ||||
| Issue | Prince Jigme Namgyal Wangchuck
Prince Jigme Ugyen Wangchuck Princess Sonam Yangden Wangchuck | ||||
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| House | Wangchuck | ||||
| Father | Dondrup Gyaltshen | ||||
| Religion | Buddhism | ||||
Early life
changeJetsun Pema was born at Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu on 4 June 1990. Her father, Dhondup Gyaltshen, is the grandson of two Trashigang Dzongpons, Thinley Topgay and Ugyen Tshering (governors of Trashigang). Her mother, Aum Sonam Choki, comes from the family of Bumthang Pangtey, one of Bhutan's oldest noble families. Sonam Choki's father was a half-brother of two queens consort of Bhutan, Phuntsho Choden (great-grandmother of the present king) and her sister Pema Dechen.
Her ancestor is also the 48th Druk Desi and 10th Penlop of Trongsa Jigme Namgyal (father of King Ugyen Wangchuck and of her great-great-grandmother, Ashi Yeshay Choden). The King and Queen of Bhutan are distant cousins.
Jetsun Pema is the second eldest of five children. Her siblings are two brothers, Thinlay Norbu and Jigme Namgyel, and two sisters, Serchen Doma and Yeatso Lhamo (the eldest, who is the wife of the king's brother, Prince Gyaltshab Jigme Dorji Wangchuck).
Jetsun Pema's early education took place in Thimphu at the Little Dragon School, the Sunshine School (1995–96) and finally the Changangkha Lower Secondary School (1997–98). She then received a convent education at St. Joseph's Convent in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, in 1999–2000. She pursued her secondary education at the Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary School in Thimphu from 2001 to 2005 and moved to The Lawrence School, Sanawar, in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India, in April 2006. She joined Lawrence as a Class-XI student and studied English, history, geography, economics and painting. She completed her Higher Secondary education on 31 March 2008. She then began her tertiary education at Regent's College in London, where she graduated with a degree in international relations, with psychology and art history as minor subjects.
Title
changeAs of 13 October 2011, the queen's title was Her Majesty Dragon Queen of the Kingdom of Bhutan.