PARAS SHAH, the unpopular son and heir of the new King of Nepal, saved several lives during the palace massacre which was carried out by the late Crown Prince, according to the first eyewitness account of the event.
After days of rumours, Rajiv Raj Shahi, son-in-law of the late King Birendra's brother Dhirendra, described the carnage last Friday at the Narayanhiti Palace that saw much of the royal family wiped out. He said: "It was Crown Prince Dipendra who murdered the King. Dipendra, who was armed with an assault rifle, later shot himself.
Capt Shahi, a military doctor, said: "Anybody who touches the King is no more what he used to be. He is just a murderer. What motivated him to do this I am not sure. Had it not been for Prince Paras probably there would not have been so many survivors." Capt Shahi, his head shaven in a traditional Hindu sign of mourning, declined to answer any questions or describe exactly what Paras had done.
However, other eyewitnesses claim that Paras saved at least three royals, including two children, by pulling a sofa over them. Capt Shahi, speaking in an unemotional voice and using a marker and sketch of the scene, said that at first he thought the shooting was a prank. It lasted around 90 seconds.
The massacre began an hour after he, along with Paras and Dipendra's younger brother Niranjan, had escorted the drunken Crown Prince - who was "stammering and falling down" - to his room. King Birendra was the first to fall in a hail of bullets at the far end of the room.
Capt Shahi said: "Being a doctor, I ran toward His Majesty, took off my coat and pressed it against his neck where he was bleeding." The King told him he had also been shot in the stomach. During the carnage Dipendra shot his father and one of his aunts several times, Shahi said. Prince Dhirendra tried stopping the Crown Prince but was shot in the chest at point blank range.
At that point Dipendra went wild, indiscriminately raking the room with gunfire, said Capt Shahi. He then went out to the garden where his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and Niranjan confronted him. He shot them both dead. The shooting ended when Dipendra shot himself on a small bridge over a stream running through the palace. He survived but died in hospital on Monday.
While the shooting was still in progress, Capt Shahi - who jumped sideways when Dipendra veered towards him - escaped through a window and told some courtiers to call for ambulances. Another witness, the dead king's uncle, Maheshwar Prasad Singh, who saved himself during the shooting by diving for cover, said: "I'm very sorry to say this but it was done by him [Dipendra]."
Official sources said King Gyanendra - anxious for public acceptance and to portray the disliked Paras in a positive light - had cleared the way for public vilification of Dipendra by bringing forward the royal eyewitnesses. The sources said: "A royal calling Dipendra a murderer and giving a first-hand account of the carnage would carry greater street credibility than the discredited official panel inquiring into it."
Street acceptance was what Gyanendra needed, as many people believed that he was involved in the murders, they added. Someone known to him said: "King Gyanendra is an accomplished strategist who ruthlessly uses people to accomplish his aims. At present, he desperately wants to legitimise his rule."
In Kathmandu, after three days of curfew, the public mood seemed to be softening. Among thousands queueing to sign a condolence book at the gates of the palace, some said there was no choice but to accept that Dipendra was the culprit. Others refused to believe the eyewitness accounts. One said: "I don't think it is true, but what can we say? We have a new king now."
~*~
Youngest royal exile meets the clan(UK Times)
BY ALAN HAMILTON
ROYAL families from across Europe gathered in London yesterday for the christening of Prince Achileas Andreas, third grandson of former King Constantine of Greece and the latest addition to a dynasty that has not ruled for 34 years.
With no members of the House of Windsor present, the congregation at the Greek Cathedral of St Sophia in Bayswater, West London, was more representative of monarchy’s Vauxhall Conference than its Carling Premiership. But King Constantine, a close friend of British royalty, remains a high-profile exile in Hampstead. The media is always invited to his family occasions and a public relations consultant is on hand to identify guests.
Queen Sophia of Spain, King Constantine’s sister, and her daughter the Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, led the line-up. Prince Guillaume of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg shared a pew with Princess Caroline of Monaco and her husband, Prince Ernst August, heir to a long-vanished German house, who has a reputation for litigation and hitting photographers. There were no unseemly incidents yesterday. Leading the non-league players were Prince Kardam of Bulgaria, the son of King Simeon, who still harbours a vague hope of reclaiming the throne.
The nine-month-old American-born baby is the product of a fusion between new and old aristocracy. His father is Crown Prince Pavlos, a Wall Street financier, eldest son of Constantine and heir to the Greek throne were such a seat still to exist. His mother, Princess Marie Chantal, is the daughter of an American multibillionaire.
As though minor European royalty did not generate enough glamour, the occasion was decorated by model Elle Macpherson
.
~*~
Supermodel joins guests at prince's christening(Electronic Telegraph)
By Nicola Woolcock
ROYALTY from across Europe came to London for the christening of a Greek prince yesterday.
Elle Macpherson, the Australian supermodel, joined royal families from Spain, Monaco and Luxembourg at the christening of Prince Achileas of Greece. The nine-month-old baby, the grandson of King Constantine of Greece, was christened at the Greek Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Bayswater, west London.
He is the third child of Crown Prince and Princess Pavlos, whose wedding in 1995 was attended by the Queen and many British royals and his elder brother is one of Prince William's godchildren. However, none of the British royal family was present yesterday. Princess Caroline of Monaco, her husband Prince Ernst August, Queen Sofia of Spain and members of the Spanish royal family all attended along with the prince's godparents.
The list of godparents included Queen Sofia's daughter the Infanta Elena of Spain, King Constantine's daughter Princess Theodora, Prince Kardam and Princess Rosario of Bulgaria and Princess Guillaume of Luxembourg.
Crown Prince and Princess Pavlos, who live in New York, have two other children, Princess Maria-Olympia, four, and two-year-old Prince Constantine Alexios. King Constantine and his wife, who is the sister of Denmark's Queen Margrethe, live in Hampstead, north London. A spokesman for the Greek Royal Family said that Macpherson was a friend of the Crown Prince and Princess Pavlos.
~*~
Queen faces race to cheer on her Oaks favourite(Electronic Telegraph)
By Michael Fleet
THE Queen has an outstanding chance of winning her first horse racing classic for 24 years today but whether she gets to see the Oaks at Epsom depends on the timing of an election tradition.
She must first greet the election victor at Buckingham Palace but no one was predicting yesterday what time that meeting would take place and whether the Queen would then be able to get to Epsom to cheer on Flight Of Fancy, the favourite. If the horse wins it will be the Queen's first classic victory since Dunfermline won the Oaks in 1977, her silver jubilee year.
Ironically, she missed the race that year because Prince Andrew had returned that morning from Canada and she decided to stay at Windsor Castle and watch the race on television. Whether she makes it today depends on what time the Prime Minister arrives and how long he stays.
If the timekeeping of the 1997 election is followed, the Queen should be able to get to Epsom for the race at 3.55pm. Four years ago the Queen received John Major at 11.30am and Mr Blair arrived an hour later. Working on the assumption that there is unlikely to be an outgoing Premier to see, the Prime Minister's appointment could be earlier.
Officially, Buckingham Palace, Lord Carnarvon, her racing manager, and Epsom racecourse were not speculating on timings. Lord Carnarvon said: "I do not know whether the Queen will get to Epsom. It is in the lap of the gods. I am sure she would love to be there and the racing world would love her to be there but I won't know until the day."
Labour Party officials were less than helpful. "We are concentrating on the election. We will not answer theoretical questions about Friday," said a spokesman before slamming the telephone down. Derby Day, on Saturday, is an official function for the Queen, who has a limousine procession down the course before racing but getting to the Oaks is a private matter.
Lord Carnarvon said: "The Queen will arrive quietly and watch the race from her box, if she gets there. If she cannot make it I am sure she will be watching it on television." A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Prime Minister was expected to arrive "during the morning" but that no time had been fixed. He said: "It depends on several factors."
Flight Of Fancy, which is trained by Sir Michael Stoute, was made favourite for the Oaks after winning an autumn race at Salisbury but was beaten on its reappearance at York last month. Since then confidence has returned and the filly is outright or joint favourite with all bookmakers.
Lord Carnarvon said: "There has been a lot of excitement over the months waiting for the race. The trainer tells me Flight Of Fancy is very well and we are all hopeful of a good performance. It will be a wonderful thrill for a lot of people if she can win." The Queen's official racing engagements at Royal Ascot are also being affected by the late election.
The State opening of Parliament takes place on June 20, the second day of the meeting and the same horses are used for Ascot as for the opening. That means there will be a procession by car on the first two days of Ascot, with the horses available for the third and fourth days.
The Queen will be going to Ascot after the morning state opening, Buckingham Palace confirmed. A source disclosed that the Queen had made arrangements to get changed at Westminster rather than lose time by returning to Buckingham Palace but it would be "touch and go".