King Birendra was born at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in Kathmandu as the eldest son of the then Crown Prince Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his first wife, Crown Princess Indra Rajya Laxmi Devi.
Birendra had spent eight years studying at St Joseph’s College, a Jesuit school in Darjeeling, with his brother Gyanendra. On 13 March 1955 their grandfather King Tribhuvan died and their father succeeded to the Nepalese throne. With his father’s ascension King Birendra became the Crown Prince of Nepal.
In 1959 King Birendra enrolled at Eton College in the United Kingdom. After studying at Eton until 1964, he returned to Nepal where he began to explore the country by travelling by foot to the remote parts of the country where he lived on whatever was available in the villages and monasteries.[3] He later completed his education by spending some time at the University of Tokyo before studying political theory at Harvard University from 1967 to 1968.[5] King Birendra enjoyed traveling in his youth and went on trips to Canada, Latin America, Africa and a number of Asian countries. He was also an art collector and supporter of Nepalese crafts people and artists, and learnt to fly helicopters.
King Birendra was married to Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi from the Rana family (and his second cousin) on 27 February 1970. The wedding, which was billed as one of the most lavish Hindu nuptial ceremonies in history, cost $9.5 million to stage.King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya had three children:
