Once upon a time, there was a young prince in the kingdom of Sikkim in the northeastern part of the mystical land of India. Nestled in the snowy hills of the Himalayas, the clouds drift like whispers and the rivers hum ancient lullabies in Sikkim. A kingdom guarded by the towering Kanchenjunga, the third-highest peak in the world, it was a place where emerald valleys stretched like enchanted carpets, dotted with prayer flags that dance in the wind. Monasteries perched upon misty cliffs, their golden roofs glowing like the crowns of slumbering giants. In the stillness of dawn, yaks wandered through silver-streaked meadows, while hidden waterfalls sing their secret songs to those who dare to listen.
The young prince, Palden Thondup Namgyal, was mourning the recent loss of his wife while spending a fateful morning in the lounge of the Windamere Hotel in Darjeeling. This is when he laid eyes on Hope Cooke, a 19-year-old lovely young woman doing a typing course in the mystic land. It was love at first sight for the prince.
When Namgyal first saw Hope Cooke at a hotel, he instantly fell in love with her. They spent time together and grew close, but Cooke soon left Sikkim and returned to America. Two years later, in 1961, she returned to India and stayed at the same Darjeeling hotel where she had first met the prince. They reunited on the same day as they had met two years ago. The Sikkimese people believed immensely in omens and signs, and the prince did take it as one. This time, the prince proposed marriage and Cooke accepted his proposal.
Queen Hope’s hushed whispers and barely audible repetitions were frequently quoted across the global media. She said, “The second time we met … he proposed to me … I said ‘yes yes yes’ … I just fell in love with his sad sad eyes.”
And then they lived happily ever after. However, this is where the fairytale ended for Hope Cooke and Game of Thrones started. Coup plots, espionage, and so much more. The wedding of fairy tales turned into a nightmare of a marriage.
Childhood
Hope Cooke was born on June 24, 1940, in San Francisco, California, to John J. Cooke and Hope Noyes. Her mother, an amateur pilot, tragically died in a solo plane crash in January 1942 when Hope was just over a year old. Following this, her father moved her and her half-sister, Harriet, to New York City, where they lived in an apartment across the hall from their maternal grandparents. After her grandfather’s death when she was 12 and her grandmother’s passing three years later, Hope became the ward of her aunt and uncle, Mary Paul (Noyes) and Selden Chapin, a former U.S. Ambassador to Iran and Peru.
This guardianship under her diplomat uncle exposed Hope to international affairs, shaping her worldview and eventually leading to her significant role as the Gyalmo (Queen Consort) of Sikkim. However, it was a double-edged sword that will also eventually become the source of the espionage allegations against her.
Marriage and Journey as Sikkim Queen Consort
In the same year as Cooke and Palden got married, the presiding king, Palden’s father, passed away. Palden’s coronation as Maharaja was held in 1965, an astrologically chosen auspicious date, although he had assumed the throne in December 1963, following his father’s death. The grand ceremony drew significant attention from American and European media, captivated by another American marrying into royalty, much like Hollywood actress Grace Kelly’s marriage to the Prince of Monaco.
Time magazine published a detailed article on the Queen, outlining her daily routine. She typically woke up at 8 AM, read international newspapers and magazines, and personally decided the palace menu. In the evenings, she played tennis and attended parties, ending her day with a Scotch before bed. She frequently traveled around Gangtok in a Mercedes.
Cooke was ambitious but allowed her naiveté to cloud the reality of being an outsider in Sikkim’s royal court. She quickly became entangled in palace intrigues and political maneuvering. Former diplomat Preet Mohan Singh Malik wrote in The Print that his initial impression of Hope was that of a young woman attempting to emulate Tibetan aristocracy, speaking in an almost inaudible whisper. However, she failed to grasp that the senior courtiers did not take her as seriously as she believed. Complicating matters, she found herself at odds with Palden Thondup’s sister, Princess Pema Tsedeun (Kukula), a politically astute and influential figure. Their personalities clashed immediately, as both sought to assert their influence over the ruler in different ways.
Cooke played an active role in shaping policy discussions within the Study Group. One key outcome, where she took the lead, was reviving the controversy over Darjeeling’s grant to the East India Company. She further escalated the issue by advocating for its return from India. And this is where the trouble began.
Playing with the Fire – Espionage Allegations
The ambitions of Cooke did not stop here and this time she was looking to meddle with diplomacy. In 1967, Hope Cooke published an article claiming that all land in Sikkim belonged to the ruler in perpetuity and could only be held in trust until reclaimed. She demanded that Darjeeling be returned to Sikkim, suggesting that her husband sought this by revoking the trust deed that granted it to the East India Company. This fueled distrust between the Chogyal and the Indian government, leading to speculation that Cooke was a CIA operative. Indian officials strongly warned the Chogyal against such interference.
By late 1965, Sikkim’s political climate had grown tense. A section of the population was increasingly dissatisfied with the monarchy and demanded greater involvement in governance. At this time, Sikkim had not yet merged with India. According to BBC Hindi, after Hope Cooke became queen, the number of foreign visitors she received rose sharply. High-profile figures, including the American ambassador and US senators, travelled to Gangtok to meet her. These meetings created the perception that India opposed Sikkim’s independence.
During this time, Cooke’s anti-India statements and her influence over the Chogyal, discouraging Sikkim’s merger with India, fueled CIA allegations. By 1973, discontent among the people of Sikkim grew, eventually leading to an uprising against the royal family. This was amid the peak of the Cold War and the Soviet bonhomie with the South Asian nation.
It was also cemented by the fact that she was under the guardianship of an American diplomat, her uncle. Some even called her a honey trap. Cooke believed her stance on Darjeeling would rally support among the Bhutia and Nepali communities to strengthen her husband’s position in revising the Treaty of 1950. But there were many who remained suspicious of her. She also faced resistance from Sikkimese bureaucrats. They resented her involvement in governance, and from her sister-in-law, Princess Kukula, who actively worked against her. These conflicts further weakened her influence and deepened tensions between the Chogyal and India.
Fall from the Crescendo
Hope Cooke was widely blamed in the local media for Sikkim’s problems. By this time, she had given birth to two children. In her autobiography, she writes that her husband, Namgyal, did not respond as she had expected to the personal attacks against her, which strained their relationship. The tension between them grew to the point where Cooke eventually decided to leave for America.
The Maharaja pleaded with her to stay, but she refused. BD Das, a former administrative officer of Sikkim, wrote in his autobiography that the Chogyal desperately urged Cooke not to abandon him during such difficult times, but she remained unmoved. Some speculated that she had fulfilled her purpose by delaying Sikkim’s merger to India, so she left. On 14 August 1973, she left Sikkim and returned to America. Soon after arriving, she filed for divorce from the Chogyal and reclaimed her American citizenship.
Even her marriage did not last, with infidelity being the issue from both the king and the queen. Cooke wrote in her autobiography that her husband was in touch with a married woman from Belgium.
What was the truth of CIA’s involvement in Cooke’s marriage to the Namgyal of Sikkim will probably never be known. However, it was certainly a fairy tale turned into a nightmare.
