Devyani Rana is the second daughter of

Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana Pashupati Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana () is a politician from the Rana dynasty. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Nepal), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance (Nepal), Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water Resource ...

and ''Rani'' Usha Raje Scindia, daughter of Jiwaji Rao Scindia, the last maharaja of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

, and the wife of Aishwarya Singh. News reports in 2001 suggested that the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

Dipendra of Nepal Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev () (27 June 1971 – 4 June 2001) was King of Nepal for three days from 1 to 4 June 2001. For the duration of his three-day reign he was in a coma after the shooting of his father King Birendra, his mother Queen Ai ...

wanted to marry her, but his parents did not agree, and that the refusal was the cause of the

Nepalese royal massacre The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on the night of 1 June 2001, at the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu, the residence of the House of Shah, the Shah dynasty, royal family of Nepal. During a private gathering of the royal family, Crown Princ ...

, although other reasons have been suggested as well.

Early life

Through her father, Devyani was born as a member of the Rana dynasty. Her mother, Usha Raje Scindia, is the daughter of Jivajirao Scindia,

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

. She has one sibling, her older sister, Urvashi Khemka (''née'' Urvashi Rajya Lakshmi). Her paternal great-grandfather was Maharaja Mohan Shumsher JBR. She attended Rishi Valley School in AP,

Welham Girls' School Welham Girls' School is a private boarding school for girls located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. History The school was founded by Hersilia Susie Oliphant, who had previously set up Welham Boys' School. She named the schools after her ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

; Lady Shriram College,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and

Kathmandu University Kathmandu University (KU) () is an autonomous university in Nepal. It is the third oldest university in Nepal, located in Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchok District, about east of Kathmandu. It was established in 1991 with the motto "Quality Educat ...

(MA).

Reports of Crown Prince Dipendra wanting to marry her

Dipendra was in the United Kingdom between 1987 and 1990, and his local guardian was Sir Jeremy Bagge, 7th Baronet, whose son was also at Eton. Bagge's daughter was a friend of Devyani who was also studying in Britain. Dipendra and Devyani met at the Bagges' Norfolk home, and Dipendra quickly fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. However, Dipendra's parents, and especially his mother Aishwarya Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (born Rana), opposed the marriage.Dipendra and Devyani
Nepali Times, 20 June 2001 According to an article in ''

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'' on 30 July 2001 and other published reports, the refusal of Dipendra's parents to consent to this marriage was the cause of the massacre of the royal family in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. However, a 2009 report based on an interview with his cousin Paras Shah suggested that there may have been other reasons as well, with other theories alleging that Dipendra was unhappy with the country's shift from an

absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...

to a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

, and that too much power had been given away following the 1990 People's Movement. A book, ''Maile Dekheko Darbar'', by the former Secretary to King Birendra suggests that Dipendra may have had significant personality problems.

Post-massacre

Devyani Rana fled from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

immediately after the royal massacre to escape media attention. In 2004, Rana obtained a second master's degree from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. She was reported to have been working for the United Nations Development Programme in India in 2012. In 2014, she became Government and Corporate Affairs Director for India and the Asian subcontinent at

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...

, and in 2021 she moved to Coca-Cola India as Vice President, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability for India and Southwest Asia.

Personal life

On 23 February 2007, Rana married Yuvaraj Aishwarya Singh, the son of HH Maharaja Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Singh and HH Maharani Veena Singh of the erstwhile state of Singrauli. Aishvarya is the grandson of former Indian Human Resources Minister Arjun Singh, a royal from the state of Churhat

Thikana Thakur is a historical feudal title of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used as a surname in the present day. The female variant of the title is Thakurani or Thakurain, and is also used to describe the wife of a Thakur. There are varying o ...

.CHURHAT (Thikana)
The wedding took place at the Scindia Villa,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. In 2017, it was reported that Rana had become an active member of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N). Rana has one son.

Portrayals

Keerthi Reddy Keerthi Reddy is an Indian former actress who appeared primarily in Telugu, Tamil films also appeared in Hindi and Kannada films. Her notable work includes '' Tholi Prema'' (1998), ''Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and '' Arjun'' (2004). She h ...

portrayed Devyani in the 2002 Indian film ''Super Star'', which was loosely based on the 2001 royal massacre. *Indian actress Pracchi Mehta Shah portrayed the role of Devyani Rana in the third season of the documentary series '' Zero Hour''. It showed a reconstruction of the massacre based on accounts of surviving eyewitnesses.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Devyani Living people Delhi University alumni Nepalese royalty 1973 births People from Singrauli district Mayo College Girls School alumni Rana dynasty Alumni of Kathmandu University 20th-century Nepalese nobility 21st-century Nepalese nobility Nepalese Hindus Scindia dynasty Indian royalty 20th-century Indian royalty Indian Hindus 20th-century Indian nobility Welham Girls' School alumni