Princess ''Ashi'' Sonam Dechen Wangchuck (born 5 August 1981) is a princess of Bhutan. She is the daughter of the fourth King of Bhutan

Jigme Singye Wangchuck Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་སེང་གེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 11 November 1955) is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan (Druk Gyalpo) from 1972 until his abdicati ...

and his wife, Queen Mother ''Ashi'' Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. She is half-sister of the fifth King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

Biography

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

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

, Wallingford, Connecticut. She has a degree in international relations from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

(1999) and a masters in law from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

(2007). She has also clerked for the

Royal High Court of Bhutan The Bhutanese Royal Court of Justice (Dzongkha: དཔལ་ལྡན་འབྲུག་པའི་དྲང་ཁྲིམས་ལྷན་སྡེ་; Wylie ''Dpal-ldan 'Brug-pai Drang-khrims Lhan-sde''; Palden Drukpa Drangkhrim Lhende) ...

. She currently works at the Judiciary of the

Kingdom 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 mountainous ...

as President of the Bhutan National Legal Institute (BNLI).

Marriage and children

She married a distant relative, '' Dasho'' 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 in Washington, D.C. and bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Economics from George Washington University. 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

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. He ...

(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 Lhentshog ...

, 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 Buddhi ...

(The Translator)

Patronages

* Board Member of the Tarayana Foundation (TF).

Official visits

* 24 October 2017 –

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. * 3 October 2022 –

Titles and styles

* 5 August 1981 – present: ''

Her Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

'' Princess '' Ashi'' Sonam Dechen Wangchuck.Of Rainbows and Clouds: The Life of ''Yab'' Ugyen Dorji As Told to His Daughter
/ref>

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