Hope Cooke
Hope Cooke (born June 24, 1940) was the Gyalmo (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་མོ་, Wylie: rgyal mo) (Queen Consort) of the 12th Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal. Their wedding took place in March 1963. She was termed Her Highness The Crown Princess of Sikkim and became the Gyalmo of Sikkim at Palden Thondup Namgyal's coronation in 1965. She is the first American-born Queen Consort.
| Hope Cooke | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gyalmo of Sikkim | |||||
Hope Namgyal, Queen of Sikkim in 1971, photograph by Alice Kandell | |||||
| Queen consort of the 12th Chogyal of Sikkim | |||||
| Tenure | 1963–1975 | ||||
| Predecessor | Samyo Kushoe Sangideki | ||||
| Successor | Monarchy abolished | ||||
| Born | June 24, 1940 San Francisco, California United States | ||||
| Spouse |
| ||||
| Issue | Prince Palden Gyurmed Namgyal Princess Hope Leezum Namgyal Tobden (Mrs. Yep Wangyal Tobden) | ||||
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| Dynasty | Namgyal | ||||
| Father | John J. Cooke | ||||
| Mother | Hope Noyes | ||||
| Religion | Episcopalian | ||||
| Occupation | Author, lecturer | ||||
| Alma mater | Sarah Lawrence College | ||||
Palden Thondup Namgyal eventually was the last king of Sikkim as a protectorate state under India. By 1973, both the country and their marriage were crumbling; soon Sikkim was merged into India. Five months after the takeover of Sikkim had begun, Cooke returned to the United States with her two children and stepdaughter to enroll them in schools in New York City. Cooke and her husband divorced in 1980; Namgyal died of cancer in 1982.
Cooke wrote an autobiography, Time Change (Simon & Schuster 1981) and began a career as a lecturer, book critic, and magazine contributor, later becoming an urban historian. In her new life as a student of New York City, Cooke published Seeing New York (Temple University Press 1995); worked as a newspaper columnist (Daily News); and taught at Yale University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Birch Wathen, a New York City private school.