The king surprised the nation by showing up to Basanta Panchami celebrations with a moustache. The Finance Ministry and National Treasury are also surprised, wondering why the palace is not interested in collecting the royal allowance.

The government has allocated Rs 32.7 million in allowances to the royal family, and another Rs 200 million has been allocated for their 'general expenditure'. Officers at the National Treasury have sent numerous messages to the palace, asking them to collect their allowance, but no one has showed up so far. Our source at the Finance Ministry tells us that the treasury is perturbed by the almost six-month delay-until now, the palace has been in the habit of collecting its allowance in mid-July.

Some speculate that this is because the king is dissatisfied with the interim constitution. Initially, the palace said it would collect the money after the promulgation of the interim constitution. It's been two weeks since the interim parliament was put in place, but the money is still uncollected.

Others say that the king told the prime minister that since he is going to only be a ceremonial king anyway, the money should be distributed to victims of the Maoists. However, the prime minister did not agree, and the money remains unclaimed.