Massacre at the Palace [Hardcover]

Jonathan Gregson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2002

On the evening of June 1, 2001, during an intimate gathering of Nepal's royal family, Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire with automatic weapons inside Kathmandu's royal palace, killing his parents -- the king and queen -- his siblings, five other close relatives, and ultimately himself. It was the bloodiest, most complete massacre of any royal family ever recorded and the most horrifying event in the history of the Shah Dynasty, which had ruled Nepal over 10 generations. The Shah Dynasty continues to rule Nepal -- the Crown Prince's uncle now wears the king's plumed crown -- but Dipendra's violent act has put the tiny mountain nation into a precarious position, where ancient customs and traditions contend with steadily encroaching modernity and Maoist insurgents threaten full-blown civil war.

What led privileged young man like Dipendra to an act of such senseless and terrible violence? Drawing on exclusive interviews with the late King Birenda and surviving members of the Shah family, and with unparalleled access to the royal palace, journalist Jonathan Gregson pulls back a veil of secrecy and intrigue to expose a family struggling to bridge the gulf between ancient family traditions and contemporary mores, between the mysteries of a feudal past and the dark pressures of the modern world.

Chronicling both the blood-soaked history of Nepal's royal family and its explosive present, Massacre at the Palace offers a rare and comprehensive examination of the inner workings of a family apparently doomed from its beginning to tragedy and loss. Skillfully merging the epic turbulence of Nepal's past with an intimate knowledge of the current state of the court, Gregson offers a riveting account of the birth of the Kingdom of Nepal, and the role of its semi-divine monarchy, and what this means to ordinary Nepalese people. All of these, Gregson writes, had a direct bearing on what was to happen on that fateful night: a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions played out on a modern stage.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shot and killed his father, mother, brother, sister and five other members of the royal family, including himself. For most observers, the massacre was an unfathomable atrocity. But as Gregson shows in this labyrinthine analysis of Nepal's monarchy, the catastrophe was wholly in keeping with the family's bloody history. The Shah dynasty first consolidated power over Nepal in the late 1700s, and the succeeding generations saw courtly intrigues, exiles, executions and palace bloodbaths (including the 1846 Kot Massacre, in which over 30 aristocrats and extended royalty perished). More than one junior queen was forced to perform sati (ritual immolation) so that she could not provide an alternate line of heirs to the throne. The weight of this tortured ancestry, Gregson maintains, came fully to bear on Prince Dipendra. Prohibited from marrying the woman he loved, he became increasingly frustrated and infatuated with alcohol, hashish and guns; eventually he decided to destroy his "dysfunctional family" with a shotgun and an M-16. Gregson, a British journalist born and raised in Calcutta, knows his subject well. Unfortunately, many readers will find themselves lost in the first half of the book, which meticulously tracks 200 years of obscure dynastic politics. The concluding sections are more intelligible and dramatic, however, especially the massacre scene itself. Overall, this is a fine resource for anyone with a serious interest in a terrible royal tragedy. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In the early days of the Shah dynasty in Nepal, it was prophesied that the Shahs would rule for only ten generations. On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra shot his father (Nepal's 11th king), mother, siblings, and five other relatives before killing himself. Gregson (Kingdom Beyond the Clouds: Journeys in Search of the Himalayan Kings), an authority on Nepal, brings his insider knowledge and expertise to the question of how the family came to such a violent end. He traces the history of the Shah dynasty, from its first warlord king to its current uncertain future, and details the politics of a constitutional monarchy whose kings were revered as gods but effectively prohibited from ruling and the strange inheritance structure that led family members to murder each other regularly throughout history. The author also explores the political machinations that cost many royal family members their lives through the ages. This is an intriguing story, but, unfortunately, the text is dry and academic, even when covering such sensational ground. Best suited to academic collections on Nepalese history. Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Miramax; First Edition edition (June 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786868783
• ISBN-13: 978-0786868780
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > History > Asia > Nepal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Royal Mass Murder, June 12, 2002

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Massacre at the Palace (Hardcover)

Though it failed to generate a huge amount of interest in the U.S., the killing of the entire royal family of Nepal by the country's Crown Prince is an incredible story. Had he not been a Royal, Crown Prince Dipendra would still have to go down as one of the most diabolical mass murderers in history. In all, he managed to kill his entire immediate family and five other close relatives in quick succession before turning his gun on himself.

Author Jonathan Gregson sets the table by recounting the entire history of Nepal's royal family, which stretches back to the mid eighteenth century. To say that the dynasty has had an unhappy history is an understatement, and after awhile the numerous accounts of Royal bloodletting become monotonous. Nevertheless, this history is vital to the story.

Flash forward to June 1, 2001. The Crown Prince is an unhappy man of thirty. An alcoholic and a drug addict, he has been denied permission to marry the woman he loves by his domineering mother and threatened with being removed from the line of succession to the throne. Gregson sets all of this up well and then recounts the bloody events as they happened. The secrective nature of Nepal's royal family and the god-like awe to which the king is still held there seems to have smewhat stunted Gregson's narrative. Still, he does a fine job with what he was able to decipher. Along the way, he paints a vivid portrait of a fiercely proud third world country that is forever wrestling with the conflict between traditionalism and modernism.

Overall, "Massacre at the Palace" is an enlightening book that is full of surprises.

5.0 out of 5 stars Too short.., June 13, 2011

By 

Prabal Guha Biswas "hmmm" (don't worry, I shall find you) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Massacre at the Palace (Hardcover)

Enjoyed reading this book very much. Started the book late afternoon and finished it by the end of the day.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Book is from Gayendra's Perspective, June 15, 2007

By 

Ocean Dweller "oceandweller" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Massacre at the Palace (Hardcover)

The book implicitly seems to think that the son killed their parents over what appears to be a minor disagreement. The only beneficiary was King Gayendra. There is a book on that - Raktakunda.

Not sure who is right but assuming that King Gayendra's version as history is ridiculous.