{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Bhutanese Name}} {{Infobox royalty |consort = yes |name = Phuntsho Choden |image = Phuntsho Choden.PNG |caption = Phuntsho Choden in 1926 |succession = Queen consort of Bhutan |regent = Pema Dechen |reg-type = Co-Druk Gyaltsuen |reign = 26 August 1926 – 30 March 1952 |coronation = 14 March 1927{{cn|date=June 2020}} |full name = ''Gayum Angay'' Phuntsho Choden<ref group=fn>Women in Bhutan retain their names upon marriage.</ref> |spouse = {{marriage|Jigme Wangchuck<br>|1926|1952|end=died}} |issue = Jigme Dorji Wangchuck |house = Wangchuck (by marriage) |father = ''Dasho'' Jamyang, ''Chumed Zhalgno''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abto.org.bt/destinations/bumthang/thukten-shedrup-dargay-choling/|title=Thukten Shedrup Dargay Choling - Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators|publisher=|access-date=8 November 2017|archive-date=24 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924014703/http://www.abto.org.bt/destinations/bumthang/thukten-shedrup-dargay-choling/|url-status=dead}}</ref> |mother = ''Ashi'' Decho Dorji |birth_date = 1911 |birth_place = Wangducholing Palace, Bumthang |death_date = {{Death_date_and_given_age|df=yes|2003|8|24|91–92}} |death_place = Dechencholing Palace |religion = Buddhism }}
Ashi '''Phuntsho Choden''' (1911 – 24 August 2003) was the queen consort of Bhutan, as the wife of King Jigme Wangchuck.<ref>{{cite web|title=Central Tibetan Administration Mourns the Demise of Bhutanese ''Gayum'' Phuntsho Choden|url=http://tibet.net/2003/08/26/central-tibetan-administration-mourns-the-demise-of-bhutanese-gayum-phuntsho-choden/|accessdate=15 September 2014|archive-date=15 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915074117/http://tibet.net/2003/08/26/central-tibetan-administration-mourns-the-demise-of-bhutanese-gayum-phuntsho-choden/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Early life== ''Ashi'' Phuntsho Choden was born in 1911 at Wangducholing Palace to ''Chumed Zhalgno'', ''Dasho'' Jamyang (of the Tamzhing Choji family – also known as the Myo family) and ''Ashi'' Decho, daughter of ''Ashi'' Yeshay Choden (who was the sister of Druk Gyalpo ''Gongsar'' Ugyen Wangchuck).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=4808&t=1|title=Central Tibetan Administration Mourns the Demise of Bhutanese ''Gayum'' Phuntsho Choden|website=Phayul.com|access-date=22 June 2019|archive-date=19 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119151600/http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=4808&t=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
From an early age, ''Ashi'' Phuntsho Choden received a traditional education, including lessons on Buddhism. She received teachings, empowerment, and reading transmissions in the Drukpa Kargyu, Karma Kargyu, Dujom, Peling, and Nyingthig traditions from renowned Buddhist lamas.
==Marriage and family== She married Bhutan's second king, a cross cousin, Jigme Wangchuck, in 1923, when she was 12 years old at Thinley Rabten Palace, Phodrang.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262373968|title=WANGCHUCK DYNASTY. 100 Years of Enlightened Monarchy in Bhutan. Lham Dorji|publisher=}}</ref> They were second cousins. ''Ashi'' Phuntsho Choden was the half-sister of the maternal grandfather of the current Queen of Bhutan, Jetsun Pema, and she was the great grandmother of the Fifth Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. She made sure that her only child, Druk Gyalsey Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, learned both English and Hindi in early childhood to prepare him for Bhutan's escalating involvement in foreign diplomacy.
Her younger sister, ''Ashi'' Pema Dechen (1918–1991), was the second wife of her husband since 1932, when she was 14 years old.She also had a younger half brother from her father's second marriage, "Dasho" jamphel dorji <ref>{{cite web|url=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5tW0M829V5g/TnNpk90kV7I/AAAAAAAACDI/a_3m2jHyXlg/s1600/Apr21%252602.JPG|title=Queens of Bhutan|publisher=}}</ref>
==Royal duties== She was very religious. Phuntsho Choden played an important role in maintaining and strengthening Bhutan's rich Buddhist heritage. She built a legacy of religious institutions, established spiritual learning centres, and preserved the rich imagery that formed a core of Bhutan’s religious history.
She created the monument National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu which she built in memory of her son, His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, for the well being of the nation and the people.
==Death== She died on 24 August 2003 at Dechencholing Palace. Her body was ceremoniously laid out for 49 days and was taken to places she had been to when she was living.
==Honours== {{Infobox royal styles |image = 70px |royal name = Queen Grandmother Phuntsho Choden |dipstyle = Her Majesty |offstyle = Your Majesty |altstyle = ''The Royal Grandmother'' }}
* {{Flag|Bhutan}} : ** 50px King Jigme Singye Investiture Medal (2 June 1974).{{cn|date=June 2020}} ** 50px Commemorative Silver Jubilee Medal of King Jigme Singye (2 June 1999).{{cn|date=June 2020}}
==Ancestry== {{ahnentafel |collapsed=yes |align=center |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. '''Phuntsho Choden''' |2= 2. Jamyang, ''Chumed Zhalgno'' |3= 3. Decho Dorji |4= 4. Lamala |5= 5. Kunzang Lhamo |6= 6. Chimi Dorji, ''Dzongpon'' of Thimphu |7= 7. Yeshay Choden |8= |9= |10= |11= |12= 12. Pema Tenzin, ''Penlop'' of Jakar |13= 13. Lhamo |14= 14. Jigme Namgyal, 10th ''Trongsa Penlop'' and 51st ''Druk Desi'' |15= 15. Pema Choki |16= |17= |18= |19= |20= |21= |22= |23= |24= 24. Ugyen Phuntsho, 8th ''Trongsa Penlop'' (= 30) |25= 25. Rinchen Pelmo (= 31) |26= |27= |28= 28. Pila Gonpo Wangyal |29= 29. Sonam Pedzom |30= 30. Ugyen Phuntsho, 8th ''Trongsa Penlop'' (= 24) |31= 31. Rinchen Pelmo (= 25) }}
==References== {{Reflist}} ==Notes== {{Reflist|group=fn}}
{{s-start}} {{s-hou|House of Wangchuck||1911||24 August 2003}} {{s-roy|bt}} {{S-bef|before=Tsundue Pema Lhamo}} {{S-ttl|title=Queen consort of Bhutan|years=1926–1952}} {{S-aft|after=Kesang Choden}} {{S-bef|before=–}} {{S-ttl|title=Queen Mother of Bhutan|years=1952–1972}} {{S-aft|after=Kesang Choden}} {{S-bef|before=–}} {{S-ttl|title=Queen Grandmother of Bhutan|years=1972–2003}} {{S-aft|after=Kesang Choden}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1911 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Bhutanese royal consorts Category:20th-century Buddhist nuns Category:Buddhist nuns Category:Wangchuck dynasty Category:Bhutanese queen mothers Category:Bhutanese Buddhists
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