Devyani Rana

Devyani Rana is the second daughter of Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana and Rani Usha Raje Scindia, daughter of Jiwaji Rao Scindia, the last maharaja of Gwalior, and the wife of Aishwarya Singh. News reports in 2001 suggested that the Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal wanted to marry her, but his parents did not agree, and that the refusal was the cause of the Nepalese royal massacre, although other reasons have been suggested as well. Through her father, Devyani was born as a member of the Rana dynasty. Her mother, Usha Raje Scindia, is the daughter of Jivajirao Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior. She has one sibling, her older sister, Urvashi Khemka (née Urvashi Rajya Lakshmi). Her paternal great-grandfather was Maharaja Mohan Shumsher JBR. She attended Rishi Valley School in AP, Welham Girls' School, Dehradun, Ajmer; Lady Shriram College, Delhi and Kathmandu University (MA). Dipendra was in England between 1987 and 1990, and his local guardian was Sir Jeremy Bagge, 7th Baronet, whose son was also at Eton. Bagge's daughter was a friend of Devyani who was also studying in England. Dipendra and Devyani met at the Bagges' Norfolk home, and Dipendra quickly fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. However, Dipendra's parents, and especially his mother Aishwarya Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (born Rana), opposed the marriage. According to an article in The New Yorker on 30 July 2001 and other published reports, the refusal of Dipendra's parents to consent to this marriage was the cause of the massacre of the royal family in Nepal. However, a 2009 report based on an interview with his cousin Paras Shah suggested that there may have been other reasons as well, with other theories alleging that Dipendra was unhappy with the country's shift from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, and that too much power had been given away following the 1990 People's Movement. A book, Maile Dekheko Darbar, by former Secretary to the King Birendra suggests that Dipendra may have had significant personality problems.