KATHMANDU: A new book, just out of the press and scheduled to be launched formally on Wednesday, deals a fresh blow to the image of Nepal’s controversial royal family, laying rape, womanising and intrigues at the door of generations of kings.

Rakta Kunda, which means ‘pool of blood’, written by Nepali journalist Krishna Bhattarai, who uses the pen name ‘Abiral’, has already sold over 2,000 copies before its official launch — a remarkable feat in the Himalayan kingdom where buying books is not a popular culture. The author claims all the happenings described in the book are real, based on his conversations with a mother and daughter pair, who worked in the palace, and then cross-checked with palace and security officials.

The genesis of the book goes back eight years when Bhattarai began researching an article on why then crown prince Dipendra was not getting married.

The reporter went to a palace official’s residence where by chance he met an old woman who had come with her daughter to enquire about their allowances. The woman, Bhattarai realised, was the maid of the queen mother, Ratna.

Bhattarai realised that the maid and her daughter, who was serving present queen Komal, were privy to many palace secrets.

“But I couldn’t write the book immediately,” Bhattarai said. “The women feared for their safety if the scandals came out.”

This is probably the most sensational book about the Nepal royals who captured the imagination of the world since 2001, when Dipendra allegedly killed his parents for opposing his marriage.

Rakta Kunda discounts the allegation that Dipendra killed his parents, siblings and other relatives.

While the old maid, who was in the queen mother’s room during the shootout in the palace, does not dare to name anyone directly, only saying it was a pre-planed conspiracy.