Behind the mist wall - Hindustan Times
Last year heads had turned when a tall, slim and elegant woman turned up at the Mountain Echoes literary festival in Thimphu, Bhutan.
When the
Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck (a writer who is also the festival’s patron), escorted this young woman to the front row, necks craned further: who was this woman? Was it true that she was going to be the next queen of Bhutan?
Last week, 31-year-old
King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangyal announced his engagement to the striking
Jetsun Pema while inaugurating his country’s Parliament session.
Later, the royal couple made their first official appearance at the inauguration of Mountain Echoes at India House, holding hands, posing for photographs, stealing glances and smiles. Every Bhutanese I congratulated beamed with pride as if it was a family wedding.
At newspaper offices the next morning, irritated readers wanted to know why extra copies hadn’t been printed in anticipation of the huge demand for the first royal portrait. This is, after all, a country where hip teenagers sport buttons of the king’s image on their shirts. “For us Bhutanese, it’s a profound moment that symbolises continuity,” said a journalist.