Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (L) and his fiancee Jetsun Pema pose in Bhutan in this undated handout released May 20, 2011. (Reuters) GAUHATI, India: Their thunder may have been stolen by Prince William and Kate Middleton, but the monarch of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and his sweetheart plan to marry this year. Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, Bhutan's 31-year-old Oxford-educated king, will wed a 20-year-old commoner. The would-be queen of the nation of 700,000 people is Jetsun Pema, a student at London's Regent College. “As king, it is now time to marry,” Wangchuck said Friday at the end of an address to Bhutan's parliament in the capital, Thimphu, that was also attended by members of the royal family and elected representatives. Wangchuck became king in June 2008 after the abdication of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who stepped down to usher in democracy. The country is now a constitutional monarchy. “His majesty's wedding announcement is the talk of the town. People are happy,” Sangay Duba, a senior Bhutanese government official, told The Associated Press by telephone. “This is what the Bhutanese were waiting to hear because ours is a hereditary monarchy, and this marriage will give us our next king.” According to the Kuensel, the main newspaper in Bhutan, the king told parliament, “I cannot say how she might appear to the people, but to me, she is the one.” “While she is young, she is warm and kind in heart and character.
