The decline and fall of Nepal's last king

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Not long ago he was revered as a Hindu god, waited upon by thousands of royal palace retainers. His face crowned banknotes and the national anthem hailed him.

Now Nepal's King Gyanendra is vilified, set to lose his crown and even pay his own tax and electricity bills.

A special assembly will convene on Wednesday with the abolition of Nepal's monarchy top of its agenda, bringing to an end the 239-year-old Shah dynasty and leaving Gyanendra to go down in history as the last king of Nepal.

The 60-year-old businessman-turned-monarch has only himself to blame, many Nepalis say, after an ill-judged power grab in 2005 when he dismissed the government, jailed politicians and declared a state of emergency.

Gyanendra was apparently fed up with Nepal's corrupt and squabbling politicians and decided only he could rescue the country from a deadly Maoist insurgency.

The attempt backfired, and he was forced to back down the following year after weeks of street protests that ultimately sealed his and the monarchy's fate.

"He believed that he had the best intention," said Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times weekly. "But it was his autocratic streak that did him in."

As a three-year-old boy Gyanendra was thrust on the throne in 1950 when his grandfather briefly fled to India, in the midst of a power struggle with the country's hereditary prime ministers, the Ranas.