Himani, Crown Princess of Nepal - Biography

Biography

Himani was born in Kathmandu the daughter of Raja Vikram Singh and Rani Bipula Singh and she is from the royal family of Sikar state in Rajasthan. She is a Surya Vanshi - Shekhawat Rajput.

Himani married Prince Paras of Nepal on 25 January 2000. Her husband was appointed Crown Prince of Nepal on October 26, 2001, meaning she became the Crown Princess amidst various royal protocols. They have three children.

• Purnika Shah (born July 7, 2000 in Kathmandu)
• Hridayendra Shah (born July 30, 2002 in Kathmandu)
• Kritika Shah (born October 16, 2003 in Kathmandu)

King Gyanendra's second reign ended in 2008, when the monarchy was dissolved without referendum by 601 officials and the interim Federal Republic of Nepal formed in its place. In the interim, King Gyanendra became a private citizen and was stripped of his royal status. His decision to impose direct rule to restore law and order in the country caused the Maoist insurgency and the moderate democratic political parties to unite in opposition to his absolute rule, an alliance which under any other circumstances would have been extraordinarily unlikely.

Unable to withhold the election on time, the then Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba, kept on asking for continuances with the King for unlimited period of time. Seeing the failure of the Prime Minister to withhold the election, King Gyanendra sacked the cabinet and assumed power and formed new government.In February 2005, King Gyanendra took complete control of the government, dismissing the elected parliament. He assured that the country will remain to normalcy and prosperity in three years. King assumed full power to protect the sovereignty of Nepal; citizens tired of corruption welcomed this move, but the political parties claimed this action as loss of democracy. Following opposition to his direct rule he was forced to return power to the parliament in April 2006, which in turn reduced the King's status to that of a ceremonial monarch. He continued as such until 28 May 2008 when the Constituent Assembly controlled by the Maoists decided to depose him and declared Nepal an interim republic until a republican constitution was promulgated. The constitution drafting deadline ended on May 28, 2010 and the CA failed to draft even the constitution. Legal analysts have ruled that the interim parliament had only two year term and since it failed to deliver the constitution, the constitution of 1990 which considers Nepal king as the sovereign, has already reactivated. There are, however, disputes and the expired CA still is ruling the nation. There have been some calls from parties loyal to the monarchy for a referendum to decide on the need for a monarchy after the constitutional crisis brought about the resignation of the Maoist-led government.

Since he vacated the palace, Nepal fell in a grip of absolute uncertainty and political chaos. Maoist Supreme Commander Prachanda was elected as the Prime Minister and reigned until he was caught for inflating the number of PLAs, cheating the UN. The video leaked and he was forced to leave the office. The deposed monarch started visiting the local towns, especially Terai, where his public support was immense. The country reflected as if he was the ruling monarch. In an event in September, 2010, he was invited to inaugurate the temple where he was openly cited and treated as the ruling monarch. It has also been widely debated whether Nepal can sustain without monarchy and most intellectuals have already felt the need of the vacuum created by him. Many Indian news media speculate his come back within few months. In Janakpur, he also stated that monarchy has not been abolished, it is rather suspended. A team of nationalists formed under the roof of United Nationalist Nepalese (UNN) to speak on behalf of the helpless, which indirectly has stated the return of monarchy is likely.