KATMANDU, NEPAL — In this Himalayan nation, the man who would be king probably is the man who would be in jail if many of his subjects had their way.
Crown Prince Paras is heir to the throne in the world's only Hindu-majority kingdom. But he is also the bad boy of the royal family, a ne'er-do-well whose careless driving killed a popular singer, whose drunken brawls are well-known and whose security detail had an entire wedding party detained for questioning after the prince's car hit their bus.
For 238 years, Paras' forefathers, the Shahs, have ruled Nepal, seemingly as immovable and lofty a fixture on the landscape as the surrounding mountains.
But history is catching up with the dynasty -- and may soon swallow it up entirely. This summer, capping a year of dizzying change, a special constitutional assembly is to be elected to redraw Nepal's political map, which could see the monarchy eliminated.
That the country is teetering on the brink of a republican revolution is due in large part to the unpopularity of the crown prince's father, King Gyanendra. Last year, opposition to a 15-month period of absolute royal rule helped unite pro-democracy activists, mainstream politicians and Maoist fighters in an alliance that forced the king to restore parliament, setting the stage for a peace accord between the reinstated government and the rebels.
It was a humiliating defeat for the king, who sits in his palace in the capital Katmandu waiting to learn his fate under the new constitution.
Practically all of the king's powers already have been curtailed. Billboards with Gyanendra's portrait have been torn down, his face has been ordered taken off the currency (to be replaced by Mt. Everest), a government committee has been formed to seize some of his assets, and the army and national airline have had the word "royal" struck from their names.
But as loathsome as the king is to many Nepalis, they despise his son even more.
Notorious for his boozing, his arrogant and bullying behavior and his frightening driving record, the 35-year-old prince has become so reviled that those who want to abolish the monarchy are, in many ways, as concerned with preventing Paras from ascending to the throne as removing his father from it.
"That would be totally bad," said engineering student Arun Thapa, 19, grimacing at the prospect of a King Paras. "He's a very corrupt person. He's a vagabond, beating people up. He's misused his powers a lot."
