Analysts and journalists in Kathmandu say Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and his seven ministers make no decision or comment without Gyanendra's approval, and he regularly sends his son, crown prince Paras, on inspections to ministries.
SUDDEN RETURN
Gyanendra, who likes reading poetry and relaxing with whisky and cigarettes, kept a relatively low profile before his sudden and bizarre return to power, focusing mainly on environmental projects.
He was never expected to be crowned again after a three-month "reign" in 1950 when, aged 3, he was crowned after being left behind when his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, fled to India with the young Birendra during a row with the Ranas, the hereditary family of prime ministers who controlled Nepal.
Tribhuvan returned after India negotiated a settlement.
"I never asked for the job. And I certainly never expected it," Jonathan Gregson quotes Gyanendra as saying to a close friend in his book on the 2001 massacre, Blood Against the Snows.
Despite the crisis, Gyanendra, or the monarchy, still has some support among ordinary Nepalis.
The Pokhara rally may have been heavily orchestrated, with community, religious and pro-government groups drafted to help fill the stadium, but many also came for a glimpse of their sovereign.
Kanta Gurung, 75, proudly wearing medals awarded by Birendra for her social work in the 1980s, walked an hour-and-a-half to get there and waited three-and-a-half more for the royal helicopter to touch down.
"He cares about the welfare of everybody," she says. "We feel it is good to come and see the king."
RSS