The Priceless Jewel
PRINCE GYANENDRA, brother of King Birendra of Nepal, has kept a low profile since the royal family was swept off the front pages following the people´s movement of 1990. The backlash against royalty affected most the prince and Queen Aishwarya, both of whom had maintained an active role during the heyday of the Panchayat system when the king ruled supreme.
Against such a background, Prince Gyanendra, who remains one of Nepal´s richest men and at the same time an active promoter of nature conservation as chairman of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (KMTNC), has been making a careful comeback. A recent address by the prince eulogising King Birendra in front of Nepal´s rich and powerful at Kathmandu´s Soaltee Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza hotel seemed a calculated move to enter the limelight.
Coming from normally tight-lipped royalty, the speech was significant for two main reasons: firstly, no one among the elected plebeians who currently rule the kingdom have command of the profuse and flowery English that His Highness does; secondly, the speech sent out a clear political message that the royalty was not being appreciated.