Editing Kingdom of Nepal (section)

===21st century===

====Palace massacre====
{{Main|Nepalese royal massacre}}
[[File:Narayanhiti Palace Museum.jpg|thumb|400px|The Narayanhiti Palace where the royal massacre occurred]]
On 1 June 2001, Crown Prince [[Dipendra of Nepal|Dipendra]] allegedly went on a [[Nepalese royal massacre|shooting-spree]], assassinating 9 members of the royal family, including [[Birendra of Nepal|King Birendra]] and [[Queen Aishwarya of Nepal|Queen Aishwarya]], before shooting himself. Due to his survival, he temporarily became king before dying of his wounds, after which [[Gyanendra of Nepal|Prince Gyanendra]] (Birendra's brother) inherited the throne, according to tradition. The massacre shattered the aura of mythology that still surrounded the Royal Family, exposing their far too human intrigues.
 
Meanwhile, the Maoist rebellion escalated, and in October 2002 the king temporarily deposed the government and took complete control of it.<ref>{{citation | editor = Mahendra Lawoti and Anup K. Pahari |title =  The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal | year = 2012 | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 9780415777179}}</ref> A week later he reappointed another government, but the country was still unstable because of the civil war with the Maoists, the various clamouring political factions, the king's attempts to take more control of the government, and worries about the competence of Gyanendra's son and heir, [[Paras Shah|Prince Paras]].

====Suspension of responsible government====
In the face of unstable governments and a Maoist siege on the Kathmandu Valley in August 2004, popular support for the monarchy began to wane. On 1 February 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and took to exercising his executive powers without ministerial advice, declaring a "[[state of emergency]]" to quash the Maoist movement. Politicians were placed under [[house arrest]], phone and internet lines were cut, and freedom of the press was severely curtailed.

====2006 democracy movement====
{{Main|2006 Nepalese revolution}}
 
The king's new regime made little progress in his stated aim of suppressing the insurgents. The [[European Union]] described the municipal elections of February 2006 as "a backward step for democracy", as the major parties [[election boycott|boycotted the election]] and the army forced some candidates to run for office.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1699935,00.html |title=When a king's looking-glass world is paid for in blood |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=2 February 2006 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819145736/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/02/china.eu |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2006 [[2006 Nepalese revolution|strikes and street protests in Kathmandu]] forced the king to reinstate the parliament. A seven-party coalition resumed control of the government and stripped the king of most of his powers. As of 15 January 2007, a [[Unicameralism|unicameral legislature]] under an interim constitution governed Nepal.

====Abolition of the monarchy====
The [[1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly|Constituent Assembly]] came to fruition on 24 December 2007 when it was announced that the monarchy would be abolished in 2008 after the [[2008 Nepalese Constituent Assembly election|Constituent Assembly election]]s;<ref name=abolish>{{cite news| title =Nepalese monarchy to be abolished| publisher =BBC| date =24 December 2007| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7158670.stm| access-date =25 December 2007| archive-date =25 December 2007| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071225081804/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7158670.stm| url-status =live}}</ref> and on 28 May 2008, Nepal was declared a ''Federal Democratic Republic''.