The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kathmandu

Nepal's ousted king Gyanendra was Wednesday packing his belongings and set to leave his main palace in the capital, closing the door behind him on a centuries-old Himalayan monarchy.

Palace officials said Gyanendra, whose throne was abolished by a Maoist-dominated constitutional assembly last month, would be moving to a former royal hunting lodge in the suburbs of Kathmandu.

"He is leaving today. He is in the process of packing up," Phanindra Raj Pathak, the chief of the palace press secretariat, told AFP.

He said the ex-king, who has maintained a studied silence since Nepal was declared a republic on May 28, would read out a statement to the nation at around 5:00 pm (1115 GMT).

Gyanendra ascended the throne in June 2001 after a palace massacre in which the then crown prince-who was drunk and on drugs and furious at being prevented from marrying the woman he loved-killed most of the family and himself.

The abolition of Nepal's monarchy was the culmination of a 2006 peace deal reached between Maoist insurgents and mainstream parties, who joined forces to push aside Gyanendra after he tried to assume dictatorial powers.