Most seven-year-olds spend their days going to school, playing with friends, or watching TV, but not so the Crown Prince of Bhutan, who is already preparing to become his country’s next reigning monarch.
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Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, the youngest crown prince in the world, celebrated his seventh birthday on Sunday with his parents, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 42, whose official title is the Dragon King of Bhutan, and his wife, Jetsun Pema, 32, the Dragon Queen.
Despite his tender age, the Dragon Prince is already being primed for a life on the throne. The adorable schoolboy is often by his parents’ side on official outings and tours, and, last year, he completed his first solo engagement when he opened a laboratory named in his honour; an important milestone in the life of any future king.
The Princess of Orange joined her parents, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, for a busy roster of engagements in Saba
Together with his two-year-old brother, Jigme Ugyen Wangchuck, the Dragon Prince also graces the Bhutan royal family’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, where thousands of followers eagerly await the latest updates on the photogenic family.
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The king, who was educated in America and completed the Diplomatic Studies Programme at Magdalen College, Oxford, is the eldest son of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth Dragon King, and his third wife, Tshering Yangdon. The former king has four wives and 10 children, meaning the current king has two siblings, as well as four half-sisters and three half-brothers.
The current Dragon King of Bhutan was crowned in December 2008, two years after the abdication of his father, who remains alive. In 2011, the eyes of the country - and the world - were on Bhutan as he married his distant cousin, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who attended school in Bhutan and India before graduating from Regent’s University London.
Birthday boy Prince Jigme Namgyel was born in Lingkana Palace in Thimphu, on 5 February 2016, displacing his uncle, Prince Jigyel Ugyen of Bhutan, as heir to the throne. His name was officially revealed two months later. Up until that point, he was known publicly as ‘the Gyalsey’ or ‘the prince’. Their younger son, Jigme Ugyen Wangchuck, was born in June 2020.
The couple – who attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September – are popular at home and internationally, with the king known as the ‘people’s king’. The king and queen’s families are also closely related: the king’s half-sister, Princess Eeuphelma Choden Wangchuck of Bhutan, is married to Dasho Thinlay Norbu, the queen’s younger brother.
