Timeline: The Nepal Royal Massacre
June 15 -- Few dramas can match what happened at Nepal's Narayanhity Palace on the first night of June, 2001, when gunshots rang out, leaving most of the royal family dead.
Crown Prince Dipendra shot and killed nine members his family and himself. His parents apparently objected to his plans to marry local aristocrat Devyani Rana.
They had reportedly threatened to disinherit him if he did so, and there has been speculation that this conflict between love and duty is what caused his rampage. Rana reportedly comes from a lower clan of nobility in India, and her great-grandmother was also said once to have been a mistress to a member of the Nepalese royal family.
The public rioted for several days after the massacre, incredulous that the carefree prince once known as "Dippy" could be responsible for the violence. There was also speculation that the slain king's unpopular brother Gyanendra, who is now Nepal's monarch, was responsible for the tragedy.
New reports have also emerged ultimately blaming Devyani. They say to placate his parents, Dipendra had agreed to their plan for him to marry another girlfriend and keep Devyani as a mistress. But Devyani reportedly rejected that plan.
Devyani is now in hiding in Europe, and refusing to come home. Without her presence, many questions remain unanswered.
Shortly after the carnage, the new king opened a two-member official commission to understand what happened.
This is a timeline of events, based on what the commission found:
7:30 p.m.: His Royal Highness Crown Prince Dipendra arrives at the locale of a regularly scheduled family gathering.
He plays billiards by himself for some time in the palace billiard room, and drinks one or two pegs of Famous Grouse whisky.
8:00 p.m.: Dipendra leaves the area and heads to pick up the Queen Mother to take her to the gathering. They return, and the Queen Mother stops to talks to Princess Helen Shaha in a small chamber east of the billiard hall. The crown prince returns to the billiards room.
