At a regular royal family gathering on the night of June 1, 2001, an apparently drugged, drunk and heavily armed Crown Prince Dipendra killed nine members of the royal family before killing himself, according to the official version of events.

Among the fatalities were his father and mother, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, and his brother and sister.

The crown prince then shot himself, according to an official report rushed through in the days following the massacre.

The killings caused outpourings of hysterical grief across the Himalayan country and prompted rumours about the possible role of the king's less popular brother Gyanendra in the slayings.

Gyanendra was not present on the night of the killings and from the start of his reign on June 4 was a much less popular monarch than his widely-revered brother.

In 1990, Birendra had legalised political parties, paving the way to the country's constitution and democratic elections.

"Gyanendra could not fill the space left by King Birendra's death because of his style of rule," said Sampeti Mishra, a 42-year-old teacher in Kathmandu.

"People were very confused and ... didn't really trust Gyanendra. The massacre marked the start of the downfall of the monarchy in Nepal," said Mishra.

Gyanendra was last month forced to end 14 months of direct royal rule after mass protests by sidelined opposition parties in concert with rebel Maoists.

Today, the new government has stripped the powers of the monarchy and the very future of the institution is in question.

The new government has met a key rebel Maoist demand for an election to a body to redraft Nepal's constitution, and possibly get rid of the monarchy altogether.