I don't know how much of this is correct, but here is an email I got forwarded-- seems outrageous if it is true.
Subject: King of Nepal's earnings proprtion compared to other country heads
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:13:15 -0800 (PST)
>When I was in Nepal, people were leaving Bajura because they were
>starving. But the royal family seems to be OK. STephen
>***
>How much money does Nepali king earn?
>
>Dear Nepali citizens and foreign lovers of Nepal, You might be
>wondering why Nepal is still poor when its countries of equal
>economic status has reached the sky with booming economic
>development. Let me try to answer - this is one of the reason, I
>have recently found.
>
>Nepal is one of the poorest counries of the world but Nepal's king
>is the highest paid king of the world.
>
>The income of Nepali king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev is :
>-2,426 times higher than that of Chinese president
>-318 times higher than that of Indian president 301 times higher
>than that of Pakistani president
>-173 times higher than that of Russian president
>-57 times higher than that of French president
>-15 times higher than that of British president 10 times higher than
>that of American president
>
>-Netherlands queen's income : Rs. 22,32,00,000 (per capita income Rs
>17,25,120 )
>-American president earns Rs. 3,24,00,000 (1,15,20,000 returns in
>tax), (per capita income Rs 25,24,320)
>-Japanese king earns Rs. 22,23,52,000 (per capita income
>Rs.24,15,600)
>-Chinese president earns Rs. 1,35,000 (per capita income Rs 67,680)
>-Indian president earns Rs. 10,11,000 (per capita income Rs 34,560)
>-French president earns Rs 57,96,000 (per capita income Rs
>15,84,000)
>-Pakistani president earns (after the coup) Rs 10,94,000 (per capita
>income 29,520)
>-British Queen does not get any salary from the state. She has a
>property of Rs 30,24,00,00,000 (the profit of investiment, after
>paying the tax, is hers) but even her neckless is the property of
>the country.
>-British president earns Rs 2,19,58,000 (per capita income is Rs
>18,16,200)
>-Russian president earns Rs 19,03,000 (per capita income is Rs
>1,54,000)
>-Belgean king receives salary as a civil servant (per capita income
>is Rs 16,74,000)
>
>And,
>Nepali king earns Rs 61,91,00,000 (per capita income is Rs
>16,560=US$ 230) [This means the Nepali king earns Rs. 19,878 times
>higher than a citizen. Last year it was 37,385 times higher. Thus a
>citizen can earn as much as the king earns in a year only after
>working for 19,000 years or in 316 lives. Ho la!]
>
>Appendix
>Nepali royal family is involved in various business. A king does not
>have to pay tax according to Nepal's constitution.
>The present king has inherited the property of earlier king's family
>and nobody knows how much it is.
>This king has taken Rs 1,06,45,00,000 in past three years for his
>small family
>
>Courtsey: Surya Thapa, Mulyankan Monthly (Nov-Dec 2005) US dollar 1
>= Rs 72 Nepal has a writing system of giving comma after two digits
>except the last.
>
>REQUEST:
>PEASE PRINT THIS AND PASTE IT ON THE NOTICE BOARD OF YOUR OFFICE.
>THIS WILL GIVE ANSWER TO THE QUEST WHY NEPAL IS ALWAYS SO POOR.
>PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS PAGE TO YOUR FRIEND - YOU WILL NOT GET ANY
>FORTUNE BUT WILL CERTAINLY OPEN THEIR EYES.
>
>Thanks,
>Nepali Janata
