ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Super Mario Bros - The First Videogame Movie - DAY BEFORE:
America's Longest Line - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Greyhound Hits The Road - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
Make Me Some Levi's
ON THIS DAY
Nepal's Royal Bloodbath
Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire on his whole family at a family dinner at Kathmandu’s Narayanhiti Palace on 1st June, 2001. He killed nine royals, including his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and his siblings; then reportedly turned the gun on himself.
In a bizarre twist of constitutional formality, Dipendra — though in a coma — was then declared King of Nepal for three days. When he died on June 4th, his uncle Gyanendra, who hadn’t been at the dinner, was crowned king. This convenient absence — and his immediate ascension — instantly fuelled public suspicion and conspiracy theories.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca explore the commonly-accepted motive for the massacre: Dipendra’s forbidden romance with Devyani Rana, from a rival aristocratic family; ask how Dipendra was able to sneak in multiple weapons into a palace laden with security; and consider how Nepal moved on — politically fractured and spiritually shaken…
Content warning: mass murder, suicide
Further Reading:
• ‘Mystery of a love divided’ (The Irish Times, 2002): https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/mystery-of-a-love-divided-1.1057937
• ‘A royal massacre: 20 years ago, a lovesick Nepalese prince murdered his family’ (ABC News, 2021): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-01/how-a-lovesick-prince-wiped-out-nepals-royal-family/100056562
• ‘Crown Prince Dipendra’ (BBC, 2002):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93ijn7h2s0
ON THIS DAY
Nepal's Royal Bloodbath
Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire on his whole family at a family dinner at Kathmandu’s Narayanhiti Palace on 1st June, 2001. He killed nine royals, including his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and his siblings; then reportedly turned the gun on himself.
In a bizarre twist of constitutional formality, Dipendra — though in a coma — was then declared King of Nepal for three days. When he died on June 4th, his uncle Gyanendra, who hadn’t been at the dinner, was crowned king. This convenient absence — and his immediate ascension — instantly fuelled public suspicion and conspiracy theories.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca explore the commonly-accepted motive for the massacre: Dipendra’s forbidden romance with Devyani Rana, from a rival aristocratic family; ask how Dipendra was able to sneak in multiple weapons into a palace laden with security; and consider how Nepal moved on — politically fractured and spiritually shaken…
Content warning: mass murder, suicide
Further Reading:
• ‘Mystery of a love divided’ (The Irish Times, 2002): https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/mystery-of-a-love-divided-1.1057937
• ‘A royal massacre: 20 years ago, a lovesick Nepalese prince murdered his family’ (ABC News, 2021): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-01/how-a-lovesick-prince-wiped-out-nepals-royal-family/100056562
• ‘Crown Prince Dipendra’ (BBC, 2002):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93ijn7h2s0
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Super Mario Bros - The First Videogame Movie - DAY BEFORE:
America's Longest Line - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Greyhound Hits The Road - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
Make Me Some Levi's
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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