Hope Cooke

Hope Cooke
Gyalmo of Sikkim
Hope Namgyal, Queen of Sikkim in 1971, photograph by Alice Kandell
Queen consort of Sikkim
Tenure1963–1975
PredecessorSamyo Kushoe Sangideki
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
Born (1940-06-24) June 24, 1940 (age 84)
San Francisco, California
United States
Spouse
IssuePrince Palden Gyurmed Namgyal
Princess Hope Leezum Namgyal Tobden (Mrs. Yep Wangyal Tobden)
Regnal name
Hope La
DynastyNamgyal
FatherJohn J. Cooke
MotherHope Noyes
ReligionEpiscopalian
OccupationAuthor, lecturer
Alma materSarah Lawrence College

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.[1] 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.[2] She is the first American-born Queen Consort.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

According to BBC report Hope Cooke's tenure as queen of Sikkim was marked by controversy, notably surrounding allegations of being an agent of the CIA. Speculation suggested she advocated for American interests and opposed Sikkim's integration with India.[6]

  1. ^ "The Fairy Tale That Turned Nightmare?". The New York Times. March 8, 1981.
  2. ^ Cooke, H. (1980) Time Change. Simon & Schuster.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Shawn G. (June 18, 1976). "Hope Cooke: From Queen of Sikkim to 'Regular' New Yorker". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Palden Thondup Namgyal, Deposed Sikkim King, Dies". The New York Times. January 30, 1982. Retrieved February 22, 2015. The deposed King of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, who had been undergoing treatment for cancer in New York, died last night from complications following an operation at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was 58 years old. A family spokesman said his body was to be flown home to Sikkim for the funeral. ...
  5. ^ "Yale Himalaya". Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "सिक्किम की रानी होप कुक क्या सीआईए एजेंट थीं?". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). June 24, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2024.