Gyanendra Shah

Imagine being a king! Gyanendra Shah was the last king of Nepal. He was born a prince, and then he became king not just once, but twice! His first time as king was when he was just a little boy, for a short while. Then, he became king again when he was older, and he ruled for seven years until Nepal became a different kind of country.

Gyanendra's life was like a rollercoaster! He was born in 1947. He became king for the first time when he was only 3 years old because his grandfather had to leave the country. Then, he became king again in 2001 after a very sad event happened in the royal family. This second time as king was a big change for Nepal.

When Gyanendra was king, Nepal was going through some tough times. There was a big disagreement called a civil war. The king decided to take charge himself to try and fix things. He stopped the elected government for a while. But people wanted to choose their leaders, so after a couple of years, the king brought back the old parliament.

After his rule, something amazing happened! The people of Nepal decided they didn't want a king anymore. They voted to make Nepal a republic, which means everyone gets to help choose the leaders. This was a huge change, and it meant the end of the Shah family being kings for over 240 years!