First, the prince fired a short burst into the air. And then he unloaded the clip on his loved ones. The last bullet for myself (8 photos)

If all modern men were so willing to tie the knot, the world would become a more orderly place. On the other hand, what happened on the evening of June 1, 2001 cannot be called anything other than a nightmare, because Prince Dipendra of Nepal brought a machine gun instead of flowers and sweets to a family dinner. Miraculously, only the younger brother's wife survived; all other family members died.

“This child has a great future, but he should not get married until he is 35.”





And all because of great love and a stupid prediction made to the king and queen thirty years ago.



Royal astrologer Mangal Raj Joshi

In 1972, Birendra Shah Dev became the new king of Nepal. He was tenth in the dynasty. His reign became known as the era of democratic reforms. It was he who achieved the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in the country. His father was a despot and a tyrant who preferred to act by force, but Birendra was not like that. Well educated, he loved poetry and drawing, had little understanding of politics, but when he received the throne, he became more competent and skillful. The people supported and loved him.

Therefore, the entire population of the country awaited the birth of an heir with great trepidation. The young king went to one of the many temples to receive the blessing of the goddess for his baby. The young incarnation of the goddess gave him a good prediction, promising his son a wonderful future. But the astrologers, who literally flooded the palace under Birendra, added their own fly in the ointment to this prediction.

The king and queen, as in a fairy tale, were predicted that the well-being of their entire family depended on the marriage of the baby. If young Dipendra is allowed to marry before he is thirty-five years old, he will bring great misfortune to their family.



Nepalese are terribly superstitious, and my parents could not ignore what was said. Therefore, they firmly decided, at all costs, to prevent early marriage and marriage in general, until the eldest son turns exactly as old as the predictors noted.

After the eldest, two more princes and several princesses appeared in the family, but it was Dipendra whose parents cared more than others. The mother, obviously wanting to compensate for future hardships, allowed the boy absolutely everything. He grew up terribly spoiled and had little control over himself. Once he even plucked royal peacocks. For something like this, any other boy, like his entire family, would have paid a large fine, and even served time in prison. Peacocks were a symbol of the kingdom; under no circumstances should they be touched. But the young prince calmly plucked their tails and made crowns out of them. Later he did the same with other birds in the garden. The mother just smiled.

She only began to worry when a distant relative appeared in the palace. The young princess won Dipendra's heart. The parents hastened to separate them. The seventeen-year-old prince was quickly sent to America.

And then everything went again, like in a fairy tale, or, well, in a Hollywood film. The visiting prince quarreled left and right with money, made many friends, studied somehow, but still he was not expelled, because he was not so stupid. He quickly forgot about his beloved from Nepal. Mom, who received letters from both him and those close to him, was pleased. The father only signed the bills with a sigh; every day they became more and more. Once, the young heir lost an expensive car (he was arguing over who would drink more), another time he paid for a huge party. But still it was better than marriage, because no one stopped him.



Deviani (right) with mother and sister

Who knew that Dipendra needed to be protected not from parties at all, but from studying. Arriving once again at the library, where he hoped to prepare for his exams, the prince met a beautiful girl there. She turned out to be his compatriot. At an American university she studied politics and law. The prince was surprised that a girl could be interested in such things, but it both surprised and pleased him. He had never met anyone like him before. Even the fact that her name was Devyani Rana did not stop him from getting closer to his new acquaintance.

For anyone else, this name would mean nothing. But not for the prince. He knew her family too well. The Rana family ruled the country for a century, they caused a lot of harm to the prince’s family, in fact, even in the twentieth century, both families were blood enemies. Nothing about the relationship between the prince and his new acquaintanceThere could be no such speech. Also a prediction.

But the prince was stubborn, they lived in America, already considered themselves Americans and forgot how inexorable the laws of their homeland could be. And yet, for a whole year, the young heir to the throne managed to hide his connection. He only made a mistake when he took his beloved with him on vacation to Australia. My father immediately received a message.

The family was alarmed. And for good reason.

"I require a marriage license"



Family of the King of Nepal

When his father called Dipendra into his office, he already knew what the conversation would be about. He immediately demanded a marriage license. But the father advised me to check my feelings and talked about the prediction. True, the king acted smarter than any other father who was in a similar position. He did not threaten his son with deprivation of the throne, arrest, or the life of his girlfriend. He simply asked to wait ten years or so. The prince reluctantly agreed, his girlfriend became, albeit unofficial, a bride. That's all he could get and that's what made him happy.

Deviani, however, was upset. How does it feel to be a bride for the next ten years? They will laugh, and relatives will run away from the world, demanding to get married as soon as possible. But she loved the prince too much to refuse. The girl agreed to wait. And this despite the fact that they could not even live under the same roof; naturally, there was no talk of children. This could not but depress both, because the prince’s younger brothers had offspring very soon.

There were rumors that the king did not love the eldest prince and did not plan to transfer the throne to him, that his refusal to issue permission for the marriage was nothing more than a ruse. Surely, they also said that the eldest son was not related to the king by blood. The situation became more tense year after year, Dipendra increasingly made scandals for his parents, demanding that his mother officially accept his beloved as a bride. But she did not agree.



The denouement of the family conflict came on the evening of June 1, 2001. According to the rules adopted in the palace, the royal family eats alone; guards stand outside the door and do not dare to go inside without special permission. That evening, such a rule cost the lives of the king, queen, and their children.

When, at a family dinner, the prince once again received a refusal from his father to hold a wedding, he walked away. And when he returned, he had a firearm in his hands.

First, the prince fired a short burst into the air. And then he unloaded the clip into his parents, brother, sister and seven relatives. He kept the last bullet for himself.

Of the entire family, only his daughter-in-law, as well as his nephew and younger brother, managed to survive. The daughter-in-law received minor injuries, the nephew was not in the hall at that time, and the brother was away from the capital on a government errand.

Such luck later gave rise to many rumors and even became the reason that the young prince, who suddenly received the throne, began to be accused of hiding the truth about the crime committed. This was indeed very suspicious, because everyone who was dear to the youngest prince remained alive. Both the wife and son were not injured. At the same time, he also got the throne. There was talk that Dipendra had received a bullet in the back of his head.



The body of parricide Dipendra will be cremated on June 4, 2001, without much fanfare.

Perhaps it was not about murder because of deep resentment, but about the deliberate destruction of all contenders for the throne. After all, the new king was last in line. And if Dipendra had received permission to marry, and even had a male child, there would have been no chance of obtaining the throne.

But it was officially announced to everyone that the prince had gone mad and committed a grave sin against his family. Getting to the bottom of the truth, however, is impossible both now and then. All evidence was destroyed after the bodies were cremated (the procedure was carried out in great haste, which greatly confused the people) and the room was washed. The new king took the throne and tried to make everything forgotten.

It is curious that the killer lived two more days after the incident, and during these two days he was the king. Unfortunately, it was not possible to ask the seriously wounded man about what happened. Maybe no one tried.

The tragedy of the Nepalese royal family still remains the most mysterious crime of the century. By the way, Gyanendra (the murderer’s younger brother) did not remain on the throne for long. Seven years later (2008), by decision of the Constituent Assembly, the monarchy was abolished, Nepal became the Federal Democratic Republic. The dynasty that reigned overafter 240 years of struggle, it fell.