Nepals government Friday formally told the deposed monarch to vacate the royal palace within the next two weeks. Nepalese television stations have broadcast video of trucks being driven from the palace to Gyanendra’s private home, filmed overnight, BBC reports Saturday.
The government has set up a committee to audit palace property prior to nationalisation. It is believed the former king and his wife will move to a private family residence in northern Kathmandu called Jeevan Kunj. Next door is the house where he used to live, called Nirmal Niwas.
Last Sunday, administrators of a national archive warned the authorities that they must work to protect papers held at the royal palace, some of which date back as much as 2000 years.
The abolition of the monarchy was a key demand of the former Maoist rebels who emerged from Aprils elections to the assembly as the biggest party.
Correspondents say the Maoists and other politicians are being conciliatory, saying the king should live on in Nepal as a private citizen. Some militant pro-Hindu and pro-royal factions are campaigning against Nepals shedding of its royal – and its officially Hindu – status.
The monarchys fall from grace has come swiftly and was heralded by the 2001 massacre in which the then-crown prince Dipendra killed his family and several other royals.
