Poems of joy were by children, exclusive dances by flight attendants and bank clerks, the airwaves were flooded with wedding fever as the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan prepared for the marriage of its beloved fifth Dragon King.
The ceremony on Thursday, while far less star-studded than the year's other royal wedding - of William and Kate - will be no less elaborate in its uniquely Bhutanese way.
During the hours of ceremonies, the 31-year-old king, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, will be adorned with royal scarves. His bride, 21-year-old Jetsun Pema, will present him a chalice filled with the ambrosia of eternal life that he will drink, and he will place a crown upon the new queen's head.
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| Wangchuck marriage |
"It's a very emotional experience, a spiritual experience as well,"Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley told media.Yet there will be no foreign princes, no visiting heads of state, no global celebrities, just the royal family, thousands of nearby villagers and the rest of the country's 700,000 people watching live on TV.
"The whole theme of the wedding was to keep it a simple family affair, that is the Bhutanese family,"said Kinley Dorji, Bhutan's secretary of information.
Bhutanese have been waiting for their bachelor king to find a bride and start a family of his own since his father retired and handed power to him five years ago.
The Oxford-educated king is adored for pushing development and ushering in democratic reforms. His teen-idol looks - slicked back hair, long sideburns - his penchant for evening bike rides through the streets and his reputation as a laid back, accessible leader, also make him the rare monarch whose picture adorns the bedroom walls of teenage girls.
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