Chances are that you’ve never even heard of the Kingdom of Bhutan, let alone its 31-year-old monarch, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
More to the point, regular readers will appreciate that – given my democratic condemnation of the royal wedding of William and Kate – this is hardly an endorsement of the royal wedding of Jigme and Jetsun Pema, his 20-year-old fiancée from an “ordinary background”.
No doubt you recall that much of the commentary on the British royal wedding was about how dashing and beautiful William and Kate looked. Never mind all of the fatuous commentary about Kate’s sister Pippa upstaging them. Frankly, Pippa wasn’t, in fact isn’t, all that.
At any rate. I thought public debate about this evidently all-important feature of royalty would be greatly informed by my stating for the record that I have never seen a more dashing and beautiful royal couple than Bhutan’s King and his future Queen.
Their pictures clearly show that even Rodin would’ve been hard-pressed to sculpt a more attractive couple. And that they are both Asian seems a fitting tribute to the fact that there are more Asians in the world than any other race, with 1.3 billion in China alone.
Jetsun Pema is a kind hearted girl who is very supportive and whom I can trust. I don’t know what my people will say about her, but I find her complete with all the qualities a woman needs to have.
(Bhutan Observer, May 20, 2011)
This was the rather modest way Jigme spoke of Jetsun, a student at London’s Regent College, at the opening session of parliament on Friday when he announced that they will wed in October. But one look at her puts a lie to his modesty: she may come from an ordinary background, but she’s clearly no ordinary beauty.
As for this Oxford-educated king’s rather chauvinistic reference to her possessing “all of the qualities a woman needs”, I suspect this unwittingly betrayed his expectation that she will give him the pneumatic ride of his life while performing her most important royal duty: giving him an heir and a spare.
Congratulations to Bhutan, and I wish this royal couple happiness ever after.
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Homage to royal wedding of William and Kate
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