On This Day: June 1st

On the 1st of June 2001 the crown prince Dipendra of Nepal shot and massacred numerous members of his own family. The massacre included his father King Birendra of Nepal and his mother Queen Aiswarya, and it took place at a house in the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the then residence of the Nepalese monarchy.

According to reports Dipendra had been drinking and smoking hashish, and he had been asked to leave the party by his father. He returned armed and proceeded with the massacre killing his parents and seven other members of the Nepalese royal family before shooting himself. Those killed and injured were:

Killed

• King Birendra

• Queen Aishwarya

• Prince Nirajan, son of Birendra and Aishwarya

• Princess Shruti, Kumar Gorakh’s wife and only daughter to Birendra and Aishwarya

• Prince Dhirendra, King Birendra’s brother who had renounced his title

• Princess Shanti, King Birendra’s sister

• Princess Sharada, King Birendra’s sister

• Kumar Khadga, Princess Sharada’s husband

• Princess Jayanti, King Birendra’s first cousin and sister of Mrs. Ketaki Chester

Wounded

• Princess Shova, King Birendra’s sister who tried to stop Dipendra from killing King Birendra

• Kumar Gorakh, Princess Shruti’s husband and the only male survivor of the Massacre

• Princess Komal, Prince Gyanendra’s wife and future and the last queen of Nepal

• Mrs. Ketaki Chester, King Birendra’s first cousin who had renounced her title (and middle sister of Princess Jayanti)

 

After the massacre Dipendra was actually proclaimed king while in a coma, but he died on 4 June 2001, after a three-day reign. After this Birendra’s brother Gyanendra became king. Gyanendra’s reign lasted until 2008 when the Nepalese Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a republic and abolished the monarchy.