Happy birthday to the Prince of Bhutan!

The King and Queen of Bhutan have shared several adorable new family photographs to mark their youngest son’s first birthday. 

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 41, and Queen Jetsun Pema shared a selection of snaps in celebration of Prince Ugyen Wangchuck.

In one portrait, the birthday boy claps his hands while beaming at his five-year-old brother Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, who is known as the Dragon Prince and is heir to the Bhutanese throne. 

The snaps were taken in the grounds of Lingkana Palace.  

King Jigme, the hugely popular fifth Druk Gyalpo, studied in the UK and the US and ascended the throne in 2006, aged just 26 after his own father abdicated.

Unlike his son, who plans to have a monogamous marriage, the former King, who introduced democracy to Bhutan during his reign, has four wives, all sisters who he married on the same day.

But despite his own upbringing, the current monarch has made clear that he only plans to have one wife, whom he married on October 13, 2011, when she was still an international relations student at Regent’s College in London.

The match made headlines at the time because the young King was more openly affectionate with his wife than citizens were used to – leaving the couple to be called ‘the William and Kate of the Himalayas’.

However, his very public displays of affection – which included kissing his wife on the cheek and holding her hand – was well-received by young people, with many even choosing to follow the royals’ example.

The couple have an unusually close family, with the King’s sister and brother married to the Queen’s brother and sister. 

The Queen’s older sister Yeatso Lhamo is married to the King’s brother Prince Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. 

Last year Princess Eeuphelma of Bhutan, 27, the younger half-sister of King Jigme, secretly wed pilot Dasho Thinlay Norbu, 28, who is the younger brother of the Bhutanese Queen.