Kesang Choden Wangchuck

• Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck

• Ashi Choden

Married to the third King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (marries 5 Oct 1951). Daughter of Sonam Topgay Dorji & Mayum Choying Wangmo.

• 1972 the Third King's health had seriously deteriorated. On 22 April 1972 Kesang Choden was formally appointed regent to act on his behalf during his illness — one of the very few women in Bhutanese history to hold such a position.

• From 1972 her title shifted from Queen Consort to Queen Mother, in Dzongkha Gyalyum (རྒྱལ་ཡུམ). She did not remarry. During the Fourth King's long reign (1972–2006) she remained a senior figure at court but kept a deliberately low public profile compared with her four daughters-in-law — four sisters from the Yangtse-based Ngalop family who married her son in a single ceremony in 1988. Observers describe her role in this period as that of a private matriarch rather than a public figurehead, focused on religious practice, family, and the education of her grandchildren.

• When her son Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated in December 2006 in favour of his eldest son, Kesang Choden's formal title became Gyalyum Chenmo — "Great Royal Grandmother" — though in common Bhutanese usage she is simply the Royal Grandmother.

Bhutan

Created: 20 August 2026, C. Kemnitz

• Engels

• Latijn

https://www.bhutanwiki.org/articles/ashi-kesang-choden-wangchuck