Those who know Devyani say she isn’t the archetype femme fatale. Notoverwhelmingly beautiful or alluring, she is nonetheless quite popular and well thought ofamong her friends in Kathmandu’s fast set. The mobile phone that she always took withher to parties used to frequently ring with calls from the prince, say friends. They alsosay she was discreet about her relationship.
Devyani didn’t need to work, but she answered phones and helped a proud father in theoffice of his political party, the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party. Her father, PashupatiShamsher Rana, is a suave Anglophile who leads one of the country’s many politicalparties. A cabinet minister, he’s admired for his sophisticated political skills andhis ability to make money. But Rana is a broken man at the moment, a scion of anestablishment that may never get its place back in Nepalese society. (The Ranas, till1951, controlled the state apparatus.)