Today is Poush 14 – the birthday of late king Birendra Shah – the last king Nepali actually loved was King Birendra.

A rare photo of KP Oli, prime minister, with King Birendra in the following video:

Although I am no fan of monarchy, I appreciate King Birendra as a person. The royal massacre, that killed almost all of the royal family, was one of the most deadly and mysterious incident in the history of the world.

On his birthday, let me wish his soul rest in peace. Let’s go back in time and watch a few remarkable photos of the late king and the royal family of that time.

Birendra and his wife queen Aishwarya witness procession from Hanumandhoka palace.

A royal portrait of the King.

Royal vacation in the Himalaya

Royal family with their favorite dogs. All the family members were killed in the Royal Massacre.

Royal procession on elephant.

Birendra in the marriage of his daughter Shruti, who was also killed in the Royal Massacre.

Royal group photo

Biography of King Birendra

Born on – 29 December 1944
Death on – 1 June 2001

In 2036 B.S. Birendra asked for the people to go to polls to choose a new system or to continue Panchayat System – known as Janmat Sangraha (1980 Referendum). The people choose a ‘Reformed Panchayat System’ instead of ‘Multiparty Democracy’ by a very thin margin.

A decade later, because of the People’s Movement of 1990 he was forced to accept a constitutional monarchy

It all started after the King didn’t want to accept Indian conditions to taking control of Nepal’s national sovereignty. India had started a economic blockade to pressure him to agree to their demands.

He is credited for introducing SAARC in Asia in order to strengthen the foreign relations of Nepal with the other South Asian countries.

King Birendra was born at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in Kathmandu as the eldest son of the then Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his first wife, Crown Princess Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah. Birendra studied for eight years at St Joseph’s School, a school in Darjeeling, with his brother Gyanendra.

On 13 March 1955 their grandfather King Tribhuvan died and King Mahendra, Birendra’s father succeeded to the Nepalese throne. Birendra became the Crown Prince of Nepal after his father became the king.

In 1959 King Birendra went to Eton College in the United Kingdom for further studies. He was in Eton until 1964. After his return to Nepal he began to travel and explore the country.

He later completed his education at the University of Tokyo. He also studied political theory at Harvard University from 1967 to 1968.

King Birendra was also an art collector and an artist himself.

King Birendra was married to Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi from the Rana family, his second cousin, on 27 February 1970. The wedding, which was billed as one of the most lavish Hindu nuptial ceremonies in history, costing around $9.5 million.

King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya had three children who died with them at the Royal massacre:
Prince Dipendra (27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001).
Princess Shruti (15 October 1976 – 1 June 2001).
Prince Nirajan (6 November 1978 – 1 June 2001).

According to the official investigation, the crown prince Dipendra is accused of killing his family. But, there are a lot of flaws on the investigation report and nobody is willing to accept the findings.