Princess ''Ashi'' Sonam Dechen Wangchuck (born 5 August 1981) is a princess of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. She is the daughter of the fourth King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck and his wife, Queen Mother ''Ashi''

Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck Queen Mother Dorji Wangmo (Dzongkha: རྡོ་རྗེ་དབང་མོ་དབང་ཕྱུག་; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Rdo-rje Dbang-mo Dbang-phyug'') (born 10 June 1955, second daughter of ''Yab Dasho'' Ugyen Dorji and ...

. She is half-sister of the fifth King,

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 21 February 1980) is the Druk Gyalpo (Dzongkha: Dragon King) of the Kingdom of Bhutan. After his ...

Biography

She was educated at Luntenzampa Middle Secondary School and Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School, Choate Rosemary Hall,

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in En ...

. She has a degree in international relations from Stanford University (1999) and a masters in law from Harvard Law School (2007). She has also clerked for the Royal High Court of Bhutan. She currently works at the Judiciary of the Kingdom of Bhutan as President of the Bhutan National Legal Institute (BNLI).

Marriage and children

She married a distant relative, ''

Dasho Dasho (Dzongkha: དྲག་ཤོས; Wylie: ''Drag-shos'') (lit. Excellent One) is a Bhutanese honorific that is bestowed upon individuals, along with a red scarf kabney, by the Druk Gyalpo. In common practice, however, many senior government o ...

'' Phub W. Dorji (born on 1 January 1980) at the

Motithang Motithang is a north-western suburb of Thimphu, Bhutan. The Chubachu River divides the district from Kawajangsa further north and Chubachu district lies to the east. Meaning "the meadow of pearls", the area only developed as a residential area ...

Palace on 5 April 2009. He is a son of ''Dasho'' Zepon Wangchuck, a former monk, Chief Architect and project manager, from Takchu Gompa, Haa, by his wife, ''Aum'' Ugyen Dolma, from Gaselo. ''Dasho'' Phub W. Dorji has a master's degree in Public Policy from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Economics from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

. His thesis was "An Assessment of the Income and Education Determinants of Party Identification in the United States". He topped the 2004 civil service examinations and currently works in the Finance Ministry. He was a director of the Bank of Bhutan. They have two sons: * ''Dasho'' Jigje Singye Wangchuck (born on 3 December 2009). * ''Dasho'' Jigme Jigten Wangchuck,

Tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

Vairotsana Vairotsana () was a lotsawa or "translator" living during the reign of King Trisong Detsen, who ruled 755-97 CE. Vairotsana, one of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava, was recognized by the latter as a reincarnation of an Indian pandita. H ...

(born on 23 August 2013). Recognized by the 70th

Je Khenpo The Je Khenpo (; "The Chief Abbot of the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan"), formerly called the ''Dharma Raja'' by orientalists, is the title given to the senior religious hierarch of Bhutan. His primary duty is to lead the Dratshang Lhentsho ...

, Jigme Choedra, as the reincarnation of the Great

Lotsawa Lotsawa () is a Tibetan word used as a title to refer to the native Tibetan translators, such as Vairotsana, Rinchen Zangpo, Marpa Lotsawa, Tropu Lotsawa Jampa Pel and others, who worked alongside Indian scholars or panditas to translate Budd ...

(The Translator)

Patronages

* Board Member of the Tarayana Foundation (TF).

Official visits

* 24 October 2017 – Japan. * 3 October 2022 – Japan.

Titles and styles

* 5 August 1981 – present: '' Her Royal Highness'' Princess ''

Ashi Ashi (Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬌 ''aṣ̌i/arti'') is the Avestan language word for the Zoroastrian concept of "that which is attained." As the hypostasis of "reward," "recompense," or "capricious luck," ''Ashi'' is also a divinity in the Zoroastria ...

'' Sonam Dechen Wangchuck.Of Rainbows and Clouds: The Life of ''Yab'' Ugyen Dorji As Told to His Daughter
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References

External links

The world's most eligible princesses
Princess Sonam of Bhutan (photo)

among them : Princess Sonam of Bhutan (photo)
An interview
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wangchuck, Sonam Dechen Bhutanese monarchy Harvard Law School alumni Stanford University alumni Living people 1981 births McCourt School of Public Policy alumni George Washington University School of Business alumni Wangchuck dynasty Choate Rosemary Hall alumni