Gyanendra was crowned king in 2001, but as early as 2008, the monarchy was abolished in Nepal.
On July 7, 1947, Gyanendra, the last Nepalese king, was born. He was born in the royal palace of Narayanhity, in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, as the son of the then Crown Prince (heir to the throne) Mahendra. In 1955, Mahendra became king of Nepal, after the death of his father Tribhuvan, who ruled for as long as forty years. King Mahendra was succeeded in 1972 by Gyanendra’s older brother Birendra.
Birendra was killed in a horribly bloody massacre committed by his son Dipendra after nearly 30 years of rule. In addition to his father, Dipendra killed his mother and seven other members of the Nepalese royal family (a Shah dynasty) in the massacre. Since Dipendra also died in a coma shortly after that massacre, Gyanendra, as his uncle, inherited the throne of Nepal.
He was crowned king in 2001, but in 2008 the monarchy was abolished in Nepal. Gyanendra then had to leave the royal palace of Narayanhity in Kathmandu. He continued to live in Nepal, and in the future he hopes to return to the throne and introduce monarchical rule in that state. His wife Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi comes from the Rana family, who once held the hereditary position of prime minister (chief executive) in Nepal.
