Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 28, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan ,is one of the youngest monarchs in the world. Jigme Khesar is the oldest son of Jigme Singye and his third wife, Queen Ashi Tshering Yangdon. The new king is unmarried and has a younger sister and brother and also four half-sisters and three half-brothers by his father’s other three wives. All of his father’s wives are sisters.

After Jigme Khesar father’s was abdicated in 2006 as part of plans to change the Buddhist nation of 600,000 people to a constitutional monarchy, the crowned king became the head of state of the world’s newest democracy. In March, Bhutan held the first democratic elections for a new parliament and prime minister.

The coronation came in what is known in Bhutan as the month of the male earth rat and was watched by thousands of foreign dignitaries, including India’s President Pratibha Patil.

The new king, who also studied in India, embodies the changes sweeping the conservative kingdom. The new king has already won the hearts and minds of his subjects, especially the young and is eager to ensure that the Bhutanese monarchy wouldn’t suffer the same fate as the royal family in Nepal.

In 2006, at his visit to Thailand as a crowned prince, he was known by the Thai press as “Prince Charming” and his visit caused a sensation, giving rise to a legion of female fans in Thailand.