Gyanendra of Nepal - Interim Suspension of The Monarchy

Interim Suspension of The Monarchy

It was announced on 24 December 2007, that the monarchy would probably be suspended in 2008, following the approval, as part of a peace deal with Maoist rebels, of the Nepalese Parliament in favour of a bill that would see the constitution amended so as to make Nepal a republic.

On 27 May 2008 the meeting decided to give the King fifteen days to vacate the palace, and decided that the first meeting would be held the next day at 11am (but was delayed due to the indecision among the leading parties on power-sharing and the nomination of 26 members of the Constituent Assembly).

On 28 May 2008 the monarchy was officially given no space in the amended constitution of 1990 and replaced with a republic by the Constituent Assembly instead of referendum. King Gyanendra accepted the decision in the following days. As he was required to leave Narayanhiti, he asked the government to make residential arrangements for him on 1 June, and on 4 June the government decided to give Nagarjuna Palace to Gyanendra.

King Gyanendra departed the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu on 11 June 2008, moving into the Nagarjuna Palace. His new residence consists of ten buildings including the royal residence Hemanta Bas, three guest houses (Barsha Bas, Sharad Bas and Grishma Bas), one office secretariat and one staff quarters. Gyanendra and his family moved into the two-storey Hemanta Bas. Following his departure the Narayanhiti Palace was turned into a museum, while Gyanendra's diamond- and ruby-encrusted Crown and royal sceptre, along with all the other crown jewels and royal assets, became government property. The royal family's departure from the palace was reported as being a "major symbolic moment in the fall of the Shah dynasty, which had unified Nepal in the 1760s".

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