Portrait photo of Sikkimese princess in ceremonial dress

Photograph shows Princess Suang La, half-length portrait, seated facing front, wearing headress and necklace, Sikkim.

Label in color reference copye slide page: "Coronation, people at the Palace." Label may not refer to date of this slide as it has date of May 1971. Princess may be attending birthday celebration of the King of Sikkim which occured in May of 1971.
Forms part of: Dr. Alice S. Kandell Collection of Sikkim Photographs (Library of Congress).
Also represented in LOT 14034-3, pg. no. 199 (color reference copy).
Gift; Dr. Alice S. Kandell; 2010; (DLC/PP-2010:106).

Palden Thondup Namgyal was the hereditary ruler of the independent Kingdom of Sikkim, located in the eastern Himalayas. He ruled the kingdom from 1963 to 1975, when it was annexed by India. Queen Hope Cooke was an American woman who became the queen consort of Sikkim through her marriage to Palden Thondup Namgyal in 1963. She was a controversial figure in Sikkimese politics.