Palden Thondup Namgyal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palden_Thondup_Namgyal

Palden Thondup Namgyal (May 23, 1923 – January 29, 1982) was the 12th and last Chogyal (king) of Sikkim.

At six, Namgyal became a student at St. Joseph's Convent in Kalimpong, but had to terminate his studies due to attacks of malaria. From age eight to eleven he studied under his uncle, Rimpoche Lhatsun, in order to be ordained a Buddhist monk; he was subsequently recognised as the reincarnated leader of both Phodong and Rumtek monasteries. He later continued his studies at Saint Joseph's College in Darjeeling and finally graduated from Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, in 1941.

Namgyal served as adviser for internal affairs for his father, Sir Tashi Namgyal, the 11th Chogyal, and led the negotiating team which established Sikkim's relationship to India after independence in 1949. He married Sangey Deki in 1950, a daughter of an important Tibetan family, and together they had two sons and a daughter. Sangey Deki died in 1957.

Namgyal married Hope Cooke in 1963, a twenty-two-year-old socialite from San Francisco in California; she was a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers on the state of New York. The marriage brought worldwide media attention to Sikkim. The couple, who had two children, divorced in 1980.

Shortly after their marriage, his father died and Namgyal was crowned the new Chogyal on an astrologically favourable date in 1965. In 1975, as the result of a referendum, Sikkim became a state of India and the monarchy abolished.

Namgyal was an amateur radio operator, call-sign AC3PT, and was a highly sought after contact on the airwaves. The international callbook listed his address as: P.T. Namgyal, The Palace, Gangtok, Sikkim.

Palden died of cancer in New York City, in the United States on January 29, 1982. Upon his death, 31 members of the State Legislative Assembly offered khadas to the Chogyal as a mark of respect.

His son from his first marriage, Wangchuk Namgyal, was named the 13th Chogyal, but the position no longer confers any official authority.