The House of Wangchuck · Present day
The Royal Family Today
A reigning king and queen, three young children, and a constitutional monarchy that remains the beating heart of Bhutanese national life.
The King and Queen
At the head of the royal family stands the fifth king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, and his wife, Queen Jetsun Pema, the Druk Gyaltsuen. They married on 13 October 2011 in a traditional Buddhist ceremony at the historic Punakha Dzong; the queen, then twenty-one, became the youngest queen in the world at the time.
The royal couple are exceptionally popular at home and have given Bhutan a youthful, modern public face abroad, while remaining closely identified with the country's Buddhist and cultural traditions.
The royal children
The king and queen have three children. The heir apparent is the Crown Prince (Gyalsey) Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, born on 5 February 2016. He is followed by a second son, Prince Jigme Ugyen Wangchuck, born on 19 March 2020, and a daughter, Princess Sonam Yangden Wangchuck, born on 9 September 2023.
Under the Constitution, the throne passes by hereditary succession, with the crown prince first in line — securing the continuity of the Wangchuck line into its sixth generation.
A wider royal house
The royal family extends well beyond the immediate household. The fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, remains a revered elder statesman, and his four queens — the Queen Mothers — continue to lead prominent charitable and cultural work. Royal foundations are active across Bhutanese society in areas such as rural development, the environment, youth, and the arts, with members of the royal family lending their patronage to causes nationwide.
This combination of constitutional restraint and active public service has helped the monarchy retain extraordinary affection and legitimacy in the democratic era.
The monarchy’s role today
Since 2008 Bhutan has been a democratic constitutional monarchy: the king reigns as head of state and a unifying symbol of the nation, while elected governments hold executive power. Yet the monarchy is far from ceremonial in spirit. The king travels constantly within the country, and the crown remains the institution Bhutanese most trust to stand above politics and speak for the long-term interests of the nation.
Major national projects of the current reign — the Gyalsung national service programme and the ambitious Gelephu Mindfulness City — show a monarchy that, even after handing political power to the people, continues to shape Bhutan's vision of its own future.