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Josy Joseph in Kathmandu
King Gyanendra, who took over on Monday as Nepal's new monarch, has played his cards well so far, say royal observers.
A senior Nepalese historian told rediff.com that the new king's refusal to name his 'wild' son Paras as the crown prince "seems to have been taken considering the public mood". Traditionally, when a new king is sworn in, he announces the queen and the crown prince too.
"The late King Birendra did so, his father King Mahendra also announced the two names together," he noted.
Traditionally too, the king's wife becomes queen and the eldest son is named crown prince.
On Monday, after his coronation, Gyanendra announced his wife as the queen, but made no mention of the crown prince. Gyanendra's wife, Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah, who too was injured in Friday night's bloody shootout, is recovering at the Birendra Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu.
A leading industrialist close to the palace said, "Probably the new king realizes how unpopular Prince Paras is."
Paras, Gyanendra's only son, is known for his wild ways. He is accused of having killed at least four people in the past. Recently, a popular Nepalese singer was said to been killed under the wheels of his vehicle.
The crowds that have been pouring into the streets of Kathmandu since the massacre have been accusing Paras of playing a key role in the conspiracy to eliminate the royal family.
Coincidentally, Paras himself escaped unhurt, though he had attended the fateful dinner on Friday at the Narayanhity Royal Palace. According to police and army officers, he had left for home a few minutes before the massacre.
Nepal's crime of the century is believed to have been committed by the late King Dipendra because the royal family, especially the queen, refused to let him marry Devyani Rana, daughter of a former Nepalese minister and grandniece of the late Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia of Gwalior.
"From whatever the new king told the nation yesterday, he seems to be making his moves very calculatedly and in keeping with royal traditions," the historian noted.
The king ordered a three-member commission to probe the Friday massacre and promised to uphold democracy in Nepal. He told the country that as the regent he could not come out with the truth about the killings because of constitutional and legal constraints. But now that the constraints are gone, the truth will out.
[Later on Tuesday afternoon, however, a political crisis seemed to be developing over the commission's appointment, with both the political nominees -- the leader of the Opposition and the speaker of the National Assembly -- indicating their reluctance to be a part of it.]
"The crown prince under our hereditary monarchy should be the eldest son of the king. Probably, the king might wait for Paras to change his style and later proclaim him the crown prince," the historian said.
But there is a section of opinion that feels Paras need not be named the heir apparent at all. "It is the king's prerogative. He could appoint any other close male member of the royal family as the crown prince," said a source close to the palace.
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