Kate Middleton and Prince William to meet ‘William and Kate of the Himalayas’ during Bhutan visit

Prince William and Kate Middleton will meet their counterparts in Bhutan during their India and Bhutan visit in spring this year. The royal couple will visit King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan and his wife Jetsun Pema when they travel to the remote mountain kingdom for the first time. The young couple is seen as the modern face of Bhutan, which remained isolated from the outside world until the 1970s and only introduced TV in 1999.

Kensington Palace said in a statement that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will meet the “William and Kate of the Himalayas” on an exotic tour of India and Bhutan. Their trip to the Land of the Thunder Dragon will fall around the time that when the 25-year-old queen gives birth to her first child, a son, Hello reports.

Like Kate Middleton, Jetsun is considered a fashion icon thanks to her striking wardrobe of traditional attires. A pilot’s daughter, she studied International Relations, psychology and art history at Regents’ College in London. She now supports causes involving children and the environment.

King Jigme, 35, who is an Oxford graduate, is known as the “Dragon King.” He married his beautiful bride in a colourful three-day ceremony in the ancient capital of Punakha. Their wedding was held seven months after William and Kate’s royal wedding, which he attended as a guest.

Their five-hour marriage service in a Buddhist monastic fortress was broadcast live to the population of 750,000. After six months of their wedding, the couple visited the UK. Jigme and Jetsun met Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House.

Back in Bhutan, where tradition forbids public displays of affection, they have sparked a trend for couples to hold hands. Jigme announced Jetsun’s pregnancy on Facebook in November in a message to mark his father’s 60th birthday, six years after his abdication. “I am deeply pleased to announce that Jetsun and I look forward to the birth of our son in the coming Losar (New Year). We are overjoyed to offer this news as a gift on His Majesty’s Birth Anniversary,” he wrote in Facebook.

The couple recently posed for a photo in the rural east of the mountainous country, showing off Jetsun’s baby bump.

William and Kate’s visit will enable them to bond with Bhutan’s young royal couple and increase the links between the two countries. A palace source said that they have been asked to go to Bhutan on behalf of the British government, People reports. This is the first big solo trip for the British royal couple after the birth of their daughter Princess Charlotte in May.