Rumours Regarding Cause of Massacre
The widely circulated rumour is that Prince Dipendra was angry over a marriage dispute. Dipendra's choice of bride was Devyani Rana, daughter of Pashupati SJB Rana, a member of the Rana clan, against whom the Shah dynasty have a historic animosity. The Rana clan had served as the hereditary prime ministers of Nepal until 1951, with the title Maharaja, and the two clans have a long history of inter-marriages.It is also speculated that the reason for marriage dispute over Dipendra's choice was that the royal family had a position that the crown prince should not marry someone having relatives in India, as Devyani did. Also, the fact that Devyani Rana mother Usharaje Scindia, whose Gwalior royal lineage wasn't considered impressive by the Nepal royal family. Prince Dipendra also courted for Supriya Shah who was the grand-daughter of Queen Mother Ratna's own sister. Queen Aishwarya though initially against the relationship due to family ties and view that Supriya could be incompetent as a queen as heard by an aide, yet she was approved more largely than Devyani Rana by the queen as then the Shah dynasty didn't have to share its power with the Ranas and would result in forming a political alliance.
The story that Prince Dipendra had married Devyani secretly in the week before the killings was speculated to fit with the astrological prophecy made in a certain newspaper. A few months ago, Nepali newspapers carried the chilling prediction by a soothsayer that both the king and queen would die if the Crown Prince married before he reached the age of 35. Though royal family insiders pooh-poohed this at the time, newspaper readers took the news seriously and in their grief last week found enough latitude to gossip about the prince's love life. One highly improbable story says the prince married Devyani in secret, perhaps at a Hindu temple in India. It was why the prediction came chillingly true, courtesy the prince. Though the logic seems impeccable, it is not considered true due to the inability to explain the massacre of the royal family rationally.
Read more about this topic: Nepalese Royal Massacre
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