Ex-King of Nepal Refuses To Hand Over Crown

BANGKOK, Thailand — The former King of Nepal is refusing to hand over his crown to the government two weeks after the country was declared a republic.Ex-king Gyanendra, now plain Mr. Shah, saw his royal status and privileges abolished on May 28 by an assembly that is preparing a new constitution. He was given until Thursday to leave his pink concrete palace in the center of Kathmandu and a committee was appointed to audit royal property, which has been nationalized.“We realize it’s hard for some people to accept change,” said a member of the committee yesterday. “We have not been allowed to look in the residence of the former king. He is not helping us very much in the audit of the crown jewels, valuables, and property.”“We have been told informally that the crown and scepter are still in the palace, but no one has formally given us the location,” he said, adding that palace staff were throwing up “a lot of restrictions in the name of protocol,” although it is unclear what protocol that could be.The re-writing of the constitution and the abolition of the monarchy is part of a peace process to end a 10-year Maoist insurgency. Observers say Mr. Gyanendra sealed his fate when he seized absolute power in 2005, angering mainstream democrats and the Maoists alike.Following elections in April, the Maoists are now the strongest force in the country’s politics.“Creating obstructions … shows that he is not enthusiastic about the change,” a senior Maoist leader, Dinanath Sharma, said. “But despite this delay, we are going to retrieve the crown.”The palace is to be turned into a museum.A historian at Tribhuvan University said the audit committee should verify that the scores of precious stones in the crown are genuine.“Gyanendra is a businessman and knows how much the crown is worth. If he does not hand it over soon, I fear we may lose the real diamonds and other gems that are in the crown,” Professor Rajesh Gautam said.

Ex-King of Nepal Refuses To Hand Over Crown

Ex-King of Nepal Refuses To Hand Over Crown

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