KATHMANDU (AFP) — Nepal's ex-crown prince Paras flew out of Kathmandu to Singapore on Tuesday amid speculation he planned to quit the nation for good following the abolition of the monarchy, an official said.
He boarded a Singapore-based Silk Air flight to the city-state, a senior airport security official told AFP, after initial reports said he had taken a flight to Bangkok.
When asked by journalists as he entered Kathmandu airport if he planned to return, Paras smiled and made no comment.
Naya Patrika (New Paper) reported Monday that Paras was leaving for Singapore, adding he "has called for his wife and children to join him after two weeks."
On Tuesday, The Himalayan Times said the ex-prince was headed to Singapore to find a school and home for his three children and wife, but that he would not be living there himself.
"Paras will return to Kathmandu once his family is settled in there," the English-language daily said, quoting an unnamed source close to the former prince.
It said 36-year-old Paras was concerned for the safety of his family following the end of the 240-year-old monarchy in the Himalayan nation and the withdrawal of all royal privileges.
Prominent ex-royal-watcher Kishore Shrestha who edits Jana Aastha, a weekly tabloid that often runs scoops on the royals, said his sources told him Paras was setting up a permanent base in Singapore.
"My sources say he does not see a good future here for his wife and children after the end of the monarchy, that's why he has decided to leave the country," Shrestha told AFP.
"Here he has to live a very controlled life. By escaping Nepal he will be able to live much more freely with less tension," he added.
However, Nepal's honorary consul general to Singapore, M.N. Swami, said he knew nothing of the visit. "No one informed me," said Swami.
He said if Paras was visiting in an official capacity, the consulate general would have to be notified to make arrangements. But he added: "He's no longer a crown prince."
Paras' father, King Gyanendra, became the last of the Shah dynasty on May 28 when a Maoist-dominated assembly elected the previous month decided to declare the country a republic.
"Gyanendra has asked him not to leave Nepal but Paras, who blames his father for the abolition of the monarchy, didn't listen to him," Naya Patrika said.
Gyanendra has said he intends to stay in the country and live as a commoner.
Paras has been unpopular in Nepal for years where his fast-living reputation was not well viewed in the predominantly Hindu, conservative and impoverished nation.
Modraj Dottel, Nepal's home ministry spokesman, said he had no information about the former crown prince's reported plans to leave Nepal, but said "as a common citizen he is free to go anywhere he wants."
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