Queen Komal of Nepal ( ne, कोमल राज्य लक्ष्मी देवी शाह) (born 18 February 1951) is the wife of former King

Gyanendra of Nepal Gyanendra Shah ( ne, ज्ञानेन्द्र शाह, born 7 July 1947) is a former monarch who was the last King of Nepal, reigning from 2001 to 2008. As a child, he was briefly king from 1950 to 1951, when his grandfather, Tribhuva ...

. She was the last Queen consort of Nepal before the monarchy was abolished on 28 May 2008.

Life

Komal was born in

Bagmati , "Tiger Gate") , source1_location = Shivapuri, Sundarijal, Kathmandu, Nepal , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , mouth = Confluence with Kamala River , mouth_location = Jagmohra, Bihar, India , mouth_coord ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

into the

Rana family Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...

, the daughter of Kendra Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana (1927–1982) and his wife Shree Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (1928–2005). Komal's older sister

Aishwarya Aishwarya (Devanagari : ''ऐश्वर्य'') is a Hindu Indian or Nepalese male or feminine given name, which means "prosperity" and "wealth". Notable people named Aishwarya * Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran (born 1971), Indian actress * Aishwar ...

was married to King

Birendra of Nepal Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज वीरेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव ) (28 December 1945 – 1 June 2001) was the tenth Shah Ruler and the King of N ...

, the brother of Gyanendra. Aishwarya was killed in the palace massacre on 1 June 2001. Komal sustained bullet injuries as a result of the palace shooting and spent four weeks recovering in hospital. She was educated at St Mary's School,

Jawalakhel Jāwalākhel ( ne, जावलाखेल) is a subdivision of Lalitpur in Nepal. It is located 2 km from the ancient city centre Pātan, one of the three great capitals of Nepal until the 18th century. It derives its name from Jaulakhel ...

, St Helen's Convent,

Kurseong Kurseong is a town and a municipality in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision. Located at an altitude of , Kurseong is from Darjeeling and has a pleasant climate throughout ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and Kalanidhi Sangeet Mahavidhyalaya,

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. As a result of the massacre, Komal's husband Gyanendra succeeded to the throne following the deaths of

King Birendra Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज वीरेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव ) (28 December 1945 – 1 June 2001) was the tenth Shah Ruler and the King of N ...

Crown Prince Dipendra Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ( ne, दीपेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह, 27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001) was the King of Nepal for three days from 1 to 4 June 2001. For the duration of his three day reign he was ...

(who had briefly succeeded him), and Prince Nirajan. Komal thus became Queen of Nepal. Komal's younger sister Prekshya also married into the

Shah dynasty The Shah dynasty ( ne, शाह वंश), also known as the Shahs of Gorkha or the Royal House of Gorkha, was the ruling Chaubise Thakuri dynasty ; and the founder of Gorkha Kingdom from 1559 to 1768 and later the unified Kingdom of Nepal ...

marrying Gyanendra and Birendra's brother Prince Dhirendra who was killed in the palace massacre. They divorced in 1991. Princess Prekshya was killed in a helicopter crash on 12 November 2001. Queen Komal married her second cousin Prince

on 1 May 1970 in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. They have two children: #

Paras Shah Paras Shah (born 30 December 1971) is the former and last Crown Prince of Nepal, the heir apparent to the throne, from 2001 until the abolition of the monarchy by the Interim Constituent Assembly in 2008 following the Constituent Assembly elect ...

(born on 30 December 1971 in Kathmandu) # Prerana Shah Singh (born on 20 February 1978 in Kathmandu).

Abolition of the monarchy

The Nepalese Parliament voted on 28 December 2007 as part of a peace deal with former Maoist rebels, 270-3 in favour of abolishing the monarchy. On 28 May 2008, the monarchy was officially abolished, replaced by a secular federal republic.

Patronages

* Member of the Raj Sabha (1977). * Patron Association of St Mary's Alumnae Nepal. * Chairman of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT). * President of the SOS Children's Villages-Nepal (2001).

Honours

;National * Member of Order of Gorkha Right Arm (1975) * Member of the Order of Rama Mantra Power (1980) * Ord

Member of the Order of Three Divine Powers (1998) * Nepal Pratap Bhaskara

Member of the Order of Honour (17 October 2001) * Ord

Member of the Order of the Benevolent Ruler (7 April 2004) * Recipient of the Vishesh Seva Medal (Distinguished Service Medal, 1971) *

Recipient of the King Birendra Investiture Medal (24 February 1975) * King Birendra Silver Jubilee Medal (1997)

Recipient of the Commemorative Silver Jubilee Medal of King Birendra (31 January 1997) * Recipient of the Vishista Seva Medal (Distinguished Service Medal, 1999) *

Recipient of the King Gyanendra Investiture Medal (4 June 2001) * Most Glorious Mahendra Chain ;Foreign * : Dame Grand Cordon of the

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่เชิดชูยิ่งช้างเผือก; ) is an order (decoration), orde ...

(1979) * : Dame Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2 May 1983) * : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

(13 November 1987)

Royal Titles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Komal of Nepal, Queen 1951 births Living people Shooting survivors Nepalese queens consort Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Members of the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu, First Class Members of the Order of Tri Shakti Patta, First Class People of the Nepalese Civil War 21st-century Nepalese nobility Nepalese Hindus Women shooting survivors