Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev

Gyanendra married his second cousin Princess Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi on May 1, 1970 in Kathmandu.

They have two children, a son, Prince Paras and Princess Prerana from the marriage.

Gyanendra was born on July 7, 1947 in the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in Kathmandu. He was the second son of Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Crown Princess Indra Rajya Laxmi Devi.

He had an elder brother, Prince Birendra, two elder sisters, Princess Shanti and Princess Sharada, one younger brother, Prince Dhirendra and one younger sister, Princess Shobha.

He became the King of Nepal for the first time in November 1950 when King Tribhuvan and all of his royal family fled to India fearing a threat to their lives. He was left behind and being the only male member of the royal family in the country he was made the King of Nepal by the Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher who belonged to the Rana dynasty.

He gave up his monarchy to his grandfather King Tribhuvan in January 1951 when he returned to Nepal from exile after a deal was made between Nepal and India which opposed the rule of the Prime Ministers belonging to the Rana dynasty.

He did his initial schooling at the ‘St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling in India. He graduated from the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu in 1969.

Gyanendra was the Chairman of the Advisory Committee which arranged the coronation ceremony of his elder brother King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev held in 1975.

He was a conservation enthusiast and held the post of Chairman in the ‘King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation’ from 1982 till 2001 when he ascended the throne. The trust became known as the ‘National Trust for Nature Conservation’.

By 1999 a civil war between the government of King Birendra and the Maoist guerillas led by Prachanda broke out.

A great controversy still surrounds the massacre of the whole royal family in Nepal on June 1, 2001. When Prince Dipendra, the eldest son of King Birendra died of the bullet wounds received during the massacre on June 4 2001, King Gyanendra was sworn in as the King of Nepal.

In May 2002 he dismissed the parliament headed by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba which had been elected in 1999.

At the time of his birth, his father, King Mahendra, did not look at Gyanendra as the court astrologer had told him that he would bring only bad luck.