sacked prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba after a lavish dinner with the unsuspecting premier and his wife.

During the 15 months that the king ruled Nepal with absolute power, many of his major decisions were taken during dinners with his advisors and generals, all of whom proved disasters and stoked public discontent that brought his downfall.

The palace's dinner diplomacy failed spectacularly this year when the royal family held three days' feasting to celebrate the king's 61st birthday.

All foreign diplomats, ministers and senior government officials invited to the black tie dinner last month turned down the invitation, deeming it politically incorrect to attend.

Besides the diplomatic snub, the palace also had to endure protests by the Maoists, who began a fresh campaign for the abolition of monarchy and curtailing of statebudget for the royal family.

A tabloid even dubbed the birthday feasts 'the last supper', conjecturing that it would be the last birthday celebrated by Gyanendra as king.

A fresh turn of the screw followed this month after a dinner party thrown to celebrate the 80th birthday of Queen Mother, Ratna.

Soon after the celebration, the royal family was hit by a jolt from the blue. Under pressure from the Maoists, the government formed a ministerial team to nationalise the king's inherited property.

Though given 15 days to do its work, the team moved like lightning, beginning the takeover of seven palaces within 72 hours of its inception.

On Friday, King Gyanendra and Queen Komal left their official residence, the Narayanhity royal palace in the capital, to take up residence in the Nagarjuna