In 1950, when turbulence had shaken Nepal, the then king Tribhuvan fled to safety in India with his son and eldest grandson, leaving his baby grandson Gyanendra at the mercy of the then Rana regime.
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Almost six decades later, after having withstood another upheaval, Nepal's King Gyanendra said he had no plans to flee to India even now, despite the abolition of his crown looming larger by the day.
The king, who had banned any criticism of the royal family during his 14-month absolute rule, was stung by the flood of media reports in neighbouring India that suggested the embattled king was planning to seek safe shelter in India, where he has a large number of formerly royal relatives.
The reports were gleefully picked up by Nepal's tabloids that speculated whether the royals would settle down in the desert state of Rajasthan.
Finally reacting to the reports, the secretariat of the Narayanhity royal palace has issued a denial, calling the reports "malicious". "This secretariat strongly refutes these reports as totally fabricated and unfounded," the note said.
The rebuttal comes even as the end of the 239-year-old royal dynasty came closer with the election commission's announcement on Monday that the Maoists had obtained simple majority in the first phase of the critical election, winning 120 of the directly contested 240 seats.
