March 5, 2008 Nepal Royals Trade
Blows
as Snake Throne Burns By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu
While the sword hanging over Nepal's two-century snake throne lowers
with a decisive election in April, the royal family has failed to
show its best face to the nation and woo voters, says a report.
Although just a little over a month is left for the critical
constituent assembly election in which people will for the first
time choose between the king and a republic, King Gyanendra's kin is
still preoccupied with feasting, drinking and squabbling, Nepali
weekly Ghatana R Bichar reported Wednesday.
The royals reportedly involved in the latest scandal were King
Gyanendra's unpopular commoner son-in-law Raj Bahadur Singh, his
brother Baj Bahadur and a royal niece, Princess Dilashma.
The tabloid said that Singh, who became known as an opportunistic
businessman during the king's absolute regime and who allegedly
misbehaved with his wife Princess Prerana, the king's daughter,
became drunk during a wedding party Monday and beat up his own
stepbrother.
The scuffle erupted late at night at the five-star Soaltee Crown
Plaza hotel, a favourite haunt of Nepal's royals and aristocrats,
where the Singhs had thrown a party to celebrate the wedding of Baj
Bahadur.
As wine, whiskey and tequila flowed freely, the intoxicated groom
was said to have picked up a quarrel with Dilasha, the king's niece,
whose father Prince Dhirendra died in the infamous royal palace
massacre in 2001.
Baj Bahadur slapped the princess, the tabloid said, triggering an
angry reaction from her elder sister, Princess Puja, who took her
side and shoved the groom.
The enraged groom would have done more if he had not been stopped by
the other guests and pushed outside the hall, the tabloid said.
To calm his nerves, the king's son-in-law gulped down more liquor
and instead of steadying, began a fight with his stepbrother, a man
called Harish Singh, the report said.
The news of the royal fisticuff comes soon after another tabloid
reported a brawl between the two princesses, Dilasha and Puja, in
another posh resort over the sharing of family heirlooms.
At that time, Crown Prince Paras and his wife Himani reportedly
stopped the fight.
However, although King Gyanendra and his wife Queen Komal attended
the wedding feast Monday briefly and left before the brawl started,
the crown prince and his wife were conspicuous by their absence, the
tabloid said.
Though the kings of Nepal were revered as divine incarnations in the
past, the lesser royals have been a byword for drunken conduct,
brawls in public and more.
The latest fight comes at a time Nepal's government has announced
plans to take over the property owned by the royals in excess of the
land ceiling prescribed by law.
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