Aiswarya

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Queen Aishwarya
Queen
Reign	Nepal: January 31, 1972 - June 1, 2001
Full name	Queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi
Born	November 7, 1949
Died	June 1, 2001
Predecessor	Ratna, Queen Mother of Nepal
Successor	Queen Komal of Nepal
Consort	Aiswarya

Queen Aishwarya (November 7, 1949 – June 1, 2001) was the Queen of Nepal from 1972 to 2001. She was the wife of King Birendra and the mother of Crown Prince Dipendra, Prince Nirajan, and Princess Shruti.

She hailed from the Rana family which had been the prime ministerial family and the effective rulers of Nepal until the 1950s. She was said to be a reactionary whereas her husband was more open to democratic governance. She was unpopular with the left. In 1998 a crowd threw stones at her and tight security measures had to be adopted for her future public appearances.

Queen Aishwarya was shot dead along with her husband, King Birendra, her son, Prince Nirajan, her daughter, Princess Shruti, and seven other royal family members, purportedly by her own son Prince Dipendra, who was wearing military fatigues and wielding an assault rifle and a submachine gun. It is widely believed that the motive for the Queen's murder was her strong opposition to the Crown Prince's proposed marriage to Devyani Rana of Nepal.