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What If the Crown Returns? Imagining Nepal’s Future Under a Restored Monarchy

south-asia
The idea that royal rule would eradicate corruption is historically naïve.
 An injured pro-monarchist supporter stands in front of blazed house by other protesters during a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Friday, March 28, 2025. Photo: AP/PTI.
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As Kathmandu’s teashops, salons, and social media timelines hum with renewed whispers of a royal comeback, what was once dismissed as fringe nostalgia is now becoming a serious national conversation. The question is no longer absurd: what would Nepal look like if the monarchy returned? Would it solve the political paralysis, corruption, and crisis of leadership that has haunted the country since 2008? Or would it merely wrap old problems in new royal robes?

This is not an idle fantasy. A casual glance at Nepal’s highways and city streets reveals how alive royal nostalgia remains. It is common to see hand-painted images of former King Gyanendra and his family on the backs of trucks, local buses, and even brand-new taxis — often accompanied by captions like “Our Real Guardian” or “Raja Hamro Swabhiman (The kind is my honour).” Many drivers, particularly outside Kathmandu’s elite circles, commission these portraits, paying princely sums to have the former king’s face etched alongside Shiva, Buddha, and Bollywood heroes. These murals are not just decorative; they are political statements and powerful expressions of public frustration.

That frustration is not without cause. It stems from a profound and festering disillusionment with Nepal’s political class, who have systematically violated their social contract with the people over the past two decades. Since abolishing the monarchy in 2008, Nepal’s democratic experiment has lurched from one failure to another – marked not by visionary leadership but by petty infighting, corruption scandals, broken coalitions, and an almost comical inability to deliver essential services. The public’s disappointment has reached a point where many believe a king can if politicians cannot govern.

That nostalgia is no longer passive. It has spilled onto the streets with deadly consequences. Just this past week, on March 28, 2025, pro-monarchy protests in Kathmandu turned violent, leaving three people dead and over a hundred injured. According to Reuters, the clashes began when police used tear gas and batons to disperse demonstrators demanding the return of the constitutional monarchy. Among the dead were a protester and a journalist covering the event. More than a hundred others, including leaders of the royalist movement, were arrested, and the government was forced to impose curfews to contain the unrest. The fact that Nepalis are now willing to die – and kill – over the question of monarchy should force us all to pause and take stock of what this debate truly means for the country.

What would Nepal look like under a restored monarchy if we were to play this scenario out?

The first and most immediate tremors would be geopolitical. India, with its deep historical ties to Nepal’s Shah monarchy, would likely react with discreet approval. Theoretically, for New Delhi’s political class and security establishment, dealing with a palace-backed Kathmandu may seem easier than navigating Nepal’s ever-changing coalition governments and their flirtations with Beijing. The assumption is that a reinstalled king would likely lean closer to India’s orbit, renewing old diplomatic and cultural links. But there are no guarantees, especially given China’s well-established global clout, not to mention its firm position in Nepal.

A policeman fires a shot to disperse pro monarchist supporters during a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Friday, March 28, 2025. Photo: AP/PTI

China’s reaction would probably be more transactional. Beijing has invested heavily in Nepal’s republican leadership, drawing Kathmandu into the Belt and Road Initiative, funding infrastructure projects, and cultivating political goodwill. A royal comeback, perceived as a tilt towards India, would initially ruffle feathers in Beijing. But China’s foreign policy calculus is ruthlessly pragmatic. If the monarchy ensured political stability and kept anti-China activities in check, Beijing would quietly adjust.

Western embassies, on the other hand, would respond with visible discomfort. Since 2006, the United States, the European Union, and international development agencies have spent millions supporting Nepal’s democratic transition, federalism, human rights, and inclusion. A return of the monarchy would be seen as a betrayal of these hard-fought democratic gains. Diplomats would publicly voice concern, and behind the scenes, aid packages would be “reviewed,” human rights monitoring intensified, and the republic’s international standing quietly downgraded.

At home, the immediate aftermath of a royal restoration would likely be political consolidation. Kathmandu’s political elite, many of whom have quietly kept channels open to the palace, would recalibrate overnight. New political alliances would emerge around the monarchy, and sections of the bureaucracy and security establishment would quietly welcome the return of the old order.

For a brief period, there would be public relief. Years of democratic fatigue, corruption scandals, and broken promises have left many Nepalis – particularly outside Kathmandu’s cosmopolitan circles – yearning for order, predictability, and a paternal figure to “fix” politics. A king promising to clean up the mess and restore dignity to the nation would find fertile ground.

Also read: Royalist Protests in Nepal: Passing Wave or Political Shift?

But the honeymoon would be short-lived. The idea that royal rule would eradicate corruption is historically naïve. The monarchy operated through patronage, privilege, and unaccountable governance networks, particularly during the Panchayat years. Replacing elected dysfunction with hereditary privilege is not reform; it is regression.

More worryingly, the return of the monarchy would have severe consequences for Nepal’s social fabric. Since 2008, however imperfectly, the republic has made strides in inclusion, federalism, and secularism. Dalits, Janajatis, Madhesis, women, and other historically excluded groups have formal access to political power for the first time in Nepal’s history. Returning to the crown would almost certainly entail a rollback of these gains, accompanied by a reassertion of high-caste Hindu nationalist politics cloaked in the language of “national unity.”

The monarchy’s return would also mean dismantling Nepal’s hard-earned federal structure.

Power would once again be centralised in Kathmandu, under a palace bureaucracy structurally incapable of addressing local aspirations or ethnic grievances. For the Madhesi movement, Janajati demands, and Dalit rights activists, this would not be a return to stability but to invisibility.

On the economic front, the crown offers no magic wand. Nepal’s chronic unemployment, remittance dependency, and stagnant economy are structural problems that will not vanish with a royal decree. Political uncertainty around a royal comeback would dampen investor confidence and unsettle development partners. Millions of young Nepalis continue to leave for the Gulf, Malaysia, Japan, and Australia, and they will not cancel their tickets because a king sits in Narayanhiti.

Globally, countries that have flirted with royal restoration offer sobering lessons. In Bulgaria, former King Simeon II returned as Prime Minister in 2001, promising to clean up corruption and rebuild the nation. While initially popular, his government failed to dismantle the oligarchic networks entrenched in post-communist politics and quickly faded from power. In Serbia and Romania, monarchist nostalgia still simmers, but no serious attempt at political restoration has succeeded.

Sunoor Verma is the president of The Himalayan Dialogues and an international expert in leadership, strategic communication, and global health diplomacy.  More on www.sunoor.net.

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