Nepal’s Former King Renounces Royal Title After 17-Year Wait

KATHMANDU-Nepali nationals are used to seeing statements from the Secretariat of Nepal’s former King Gyanendra Shah that called him ‘His Majesty the King’ even after the abolition of the monarchy 17 years ago.

Late on September 7 evening, the tradition was broken as the former King himself stated on the occasion of the Dashain (Dussehra) festival, the biggest festival for Nepal’s Hindu population, that he will now be known as the “former His Majesty the King.”

In the statement issued from the Nirmal Niwas, the residence of the former King, Shah called for timely reforms in the state system while respecting the sentiments of the people. Given that a new apolitical government has been formed in the country following the Gen-Z protests on September 8 and 9, the former monarch stressed that the aspirations and desires of the new generation must be embraced by the governance system.

Many are wondering why the former monarch, who was ousted from the palace in 2008, continued to refer to himself as ‘His Majesty the King’ for 17 years and suddenly began to call himself an ex-King. Nepal’s first constituent assembly, formed after the 2006 uprising against the then King’s rule, had voted to abolish monarchy in May 2008.

Many are wondering if a sudden change in the letterhead of the statement that addressed Shah as the former King has anything to do with the recent political change in the country. Some groups were demanding that the monarchy be restored following the ‘failure’ of the major political parties to lead the country to the direction of prosperity following the abolition of the monarchy. But the recent political crisis in Nepal didn’t result in the restoration of the monarchy, which some had wished for.

The idea of restoring the monarchy was in fact, floated during the discussion held at the President’s office involving the political parties, too, to address the demands of Gen-Z protestors.

In an article with the weekly newspaper ‘Janaastha’, former Prime Minister and Chairperson of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist), Madhav Kumar Nepal, also hinted about the talks regarding the restoration of monarchy. (IANS)