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Coronation of King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya of Nepal on this day in 1975, which started with a ritual bathing ceremony which led to the crowning with the Emerald Crown and the Nepalese Diamond Tiara at an auspicious 8:37 a.m in the Temple of the Hanuman Dhoka Palace, followed by a Procession on Elephants through the streets of Kathmandu. King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya were killed with 10 other members of the Nepalese Royal family in 2001, by their eldest son, Crown Prince Dipendra. The Nepalese monarchy, the last surviving Hindu Kingdom, was abolished in 2008.
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#RoyalFlashback- Royal Guests from around the world at the Coronation of King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya of Nepal in Katmandu #OnThisDay 45 year ago: https://t.co/5qdAf20rI9 pic.twitter.com/4GJJ6kTrnI
— The Royal Watcher (@saadsalman719) February 22, 2020
#RoyalFlashback- Royal Guests from around the world at the Coronation of King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya of Nepal in Katmandu #OnThisDay 45 year ago: https://t.co/5qdAf20rI9 pic.twitter.com/4GJJ6kTrnI
— The Royal Watcher (@saadsalman719) February 22, 2020Royal Guests included the Prince of Wales, Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko of Japan, Crown Prince Vong Savang of Laos, Prince Henrik of Denmark, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (wearing the Gloucester Necklace Tiara), Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala of Thailand, Prince Gholam Reza Pahlavi and Princess Manijeh of Iran, Princess Dechen Wangmo Wangchuck of Bhutan, Lord Mountbatten, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal of Sikkim, Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail of Kelantan, Raja Jigme Prabal Bista of Mustang, Maharaja Madhavra Scindia and Maharani Madhavi Raje Sahib Scindia of Gwailor, and First Lady Imelda Marcos of the Philippines.
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Oh, my goodness! I remember the massacre. What a terrible thing to happen! I find it difficult to believe that the Crown Prince did this, but facts are very hard to come by about this incident. Maybe the true story of this horrific event will never be fully revealed. May they all rest in peace.
When I wrote that originally (this is an updated version of an article I wrote two years ago), I believed the official version, but as a political science student now, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Americans, Chinese, or Indians were behind the massacre and the subsequent fall of the monarchy! Sadly, Nepal and the Nepalese people are just one pawn in a bigger geopolitical game!
This will probably remain a mystery- at least in our lifetime! It’s sort of like “Who killed Kennedy?”. I’ve given up on the possibility of ever knowing that before I die.
The massacre has always been something that is shrouded with conspiracy, however the truth is grim and bitter, it was Dipendra who killed them and yes, western powers and india played a pivotal role in the abolishment of the monarchy in order to destabilize Nepal.
Kathmandu,Nepal
The facts are not hard to come by. Reliable eyewitnesses have shared what they experienced. They are just clouded by the lie that Dipendra committed suicide. He was shot in order to stop him killing more relatives. Dr Upendra Devkota’s medical report made that obvious. There is a romantic, but silly, notion that no boy could ever hurt his parents. History and psychology say otherwise. A cloud of suspicion surrounds Gyanendra because he was not a popular figure like Birendra, and because he happened to be absent that night. His wife, who was shot, and his son, who saved several of his cousins by hiding them, were there. The government of the time, anxious not to heighten tensions did a foolhardy job of relating the news.