Tragic Romance Part of Nepal Story
By NEELESH MISRA
.c The Associated Press
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Soft-spoken and beautiful, the sweetheart of the late Crown Prince Dipendra is herself a member of a royal lineage and the daughter of a former Nepalese foreign minister.
Dipendra's frustration with his parents' opposition to his plans to marry Devyani Rana apparently drove him to massacre them and seven other royals, then fatally shoot himself. He died in a hospital Monday, and his uncle, Gyanendra, took the throne.
``They were in love. It was talked about in family circles,'' Suraj Shumshere Rana, brother of the assassinated queen, told The Associated Press.
Other royal watchers likened the pair to Romeo and Juliet, and a member of the State Council that names Nepal's kings and overseas royal affairs said the prince was ``smitten.''
Devyani Rana, who is in her early 20s, was reportedly so overcome with grief after the slayings that she left for New Delhi, where she lay sedated for days. The council member said she has since flown to London, where she is staying in the home of her sister, Urvashi.
King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya objected to the marriage because the girl belonged to what they considered a lower clan. Devyani Rana's mother belonged to the once-powerful Scindia dynasty in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh.
As Nepal continued to mourn Friday's massacre of its royal family, tales swirled in Katmandu's narrow streets about the passionate romance between the doomed couple.
Devyani Rana and 29-year-old Dipendra - army colonel-in-chief and paraglider- reportedly appeared at public functions together and went to parties and discos.
They often met in an isolated house in Lalitpur, a town adjoining the Nepalese capital of Katmandu, according to a State Council member and friend of Devyani Rana, who like the other council member spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said she tried to help the two get married, even attempting to get a fake declaration from a Hindu astrologer saying the kingdom would fall into bad times if the crown prince did not marry his sweetheart.
The astrologer refused.
Devyani Rana is the daughter of Pashupati Shumshere Rana, a former government minister and leader of an opposition party in Nepal. He has never lost an election in his Sidhupal Chowk constituency, close to Nepal's border with China.
Those close to the family say Devyani Rana was her father's secretary, adviser and anchor.
One Rana clan member said she helped put together her father's schedule, conferred with party workers and made other contributions to his political career.
Devyani Rana was educated in India, studying in some of the country's top colleges. |
