Another monarch off the market: Bhutan's king to wed a commoner

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan has joined the royal trend — weeks after Britain's William and Kate, the Himalayan kingdom has its own commoner bride-to-be.

The 31-year-old Oxford-educated monarch announced his engagement to Jetsun Pema, 21, a student at Regent's College in London, during the opening session of parliament on May 20 in the capital Thimphu. The address was broadcast on national television before members of the royal family and elected representatives.

"As king, it is now time for me to marry," he told parliament. "After much thought I have decided that the wedding shall be later this year." Of his bride, he said that what mattered most in a queen was not beauty or grace but that "as an individual she must be a good human being, and as queen, she must be unwavering in her commitment to serve the people and country."

The wedding was set for October 13, 2011, at the 17th-century Punakha Dzong — a traditional Buddhist ceremony that would become the largest media event in Bhutan's history, with public celebrations to follow in Thimphu and Paro. True to his word about the kind of marriage he intended, the king — whose father had four wives — pledged that Jetsun Pema would be his only queen.