Deposed Nepal king stalls dismantling of monarchy

NEPAL’s deposed king is refusing to co-operate with a government committee set up to audit royal property and has still not handed over his crown, an official source said yesterday.

“We realise it’s hard for some people to accept change,” a member of the committee said as he recounted various ways in which ousted king Gyanendra has been trying to stall the dismantling of his 240-year-old monarchy.

“We have not been allowed to look in the residence of the former king. He is not helping us very much in the audit of the crown jewels, valuables and property,” the source said.

Nepal’s monarchy was abolished on May 28 by a constitutional assembly, which was set up following a peace deal with Maoist insurgents and mainstream political parties.

Gyanendra has until Thursday to vacate the sprawling pink palace in central Kathmandu. The residence will then be turned into a museum. But the committee member said key items, including the diamond and ruby-adorned crown — last seen in public during Gyanendra’s coronation in 2001 — had yet to be recovered.

“We have been told informally that the crown and sceptre are still in the palace, but no one has formally given us the location,” he said, adding that palace staff were throwing up “a lot of restrictions in the name of protocol” — even though the last of the king’s privileges were revoked in May.

Nepal’s Maoists, who fought for 10 years to topple the monarchy, said the ex-king was clearly having trouble coping with his fall from grace.