Queen Ratna of Nepal

Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (born 19 August 1928) is a member of the Nepalese royal family who was the Queen of Nepal from 1955 to 1972 and queen dowager from 1972 to 2008.

Life King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Queen Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah in their coronation on 2 May 1956.

Queen Ratna in the Netherlands on 25 April 1967 with Prince Bernhard. Ratna's older sister Crown Princess Indra had married Crown Prince Mahendra in 1940 but died in 1950. Two years later, Ratna married Mahendra. Mahendra already had three sons and three daughters with Indra. Ratna became Queen consort after Mahendra's father King Tribhuvan died in 1955. King Mahendra and Queen Ratna did not have any children, as she was sterilized by King Mahendra before their marriage. In 1972, King Mahendra suffered a fatal heart attack while hunting in Chitwan National Park. His oldest son, Crown Prince Birendra took over.

On the evening of June 1, 2001, when the Nepalese royal massacre took place, Ratna was sitting with her sister-in-law Princess Helen Shah in the anteroom, and thus survived. The two women heard the gunshots but did not take them seriously. A few minutes later, Prince Paras came and told them that the Crown Prince Dipendra had shot everybody, including the King. Dipendra was declared King while still in coma, Ratna was said to have refused to see his unconscious body.

The Nepalese monarchy was abolished in 2008 after the Constituent Assembly election. All members of the royal family had to evacuate the Narayanhiti Palace, with the exception of Queen Ratna. King Gyanendra made arrangements for his ailing step-mother and aunt to stay in Mahendra Manzil, a palace within the complex of Narayanhity Palace Museum. The Maoist government, however, confiscated numerous palaces that her husband Mahendra had built on his personal property as gifts to her. On 1 September 2022 she underwent cataract surgery at Sudrishti Eye Clinic at Durbarmarg.

Honors Many structures, institutions, locations and honors have been built and introduced in the respect of Queen Ratna. Monuments erected in her name were renamed after the restoration of the parliament and the end of the monarchy in 2008. Even though the Ratna Park named after the queen was renamed as Shankhadhar Sakhwa Park, Ratna Park is still popular among the people.

Ratna Park Ratna Highway Queen of Nepal: a Russian folk song Tsaritsa Nepala (Queen of Nepal): a Russian song about Nepal and the queen Ratna Statue in Ratna Park Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus

Honours National honours

70px Tribhuvan Order of the Footprint of Democracy, 1st class (2 May 1956). 70px Order of the Footprint of Nepal, 1st class (16 December 1962).

Ati Suvikhyata Sewalankar [Renowned Service Medal].

70px Commemorative Silver Jubilee Medal of King Birendra (31 January 1997).

Foreign honours Japan:

Germany:

Netherlands: 70px Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (25 April 1967). Laos: 70px Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol (1970). Pakistan:

Philippines:

Pahlavi dynasty: 70px Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire (14 October 1971).

Ancestry