The woman, who belongs to the Tamang caste, is not allowed to come out of the old white house inside the Narayanhitya palace complex where King Gyanendra, grandson of Tribhuvan, lives, state-run Nepali language daily Gorkhapatra reported on Monday quoting a palace staff.

She has been kept in the small and not so well maintained house guarded by a military battalion since the death of the monarch in 1955, it said adding the woman could not get "recognition" as the member of the royal family as she belongs to a "lower caste".

The old lady has been given the title Jijyu Mumajyu Ranisaheb or "Grand mother Queen" by the palace but denied hree Panch, that is reserved for the members of the royal family.

No one is allowed to go inside the house or see her, the palace staff said.

"We are not allowed to see her even from some distance," he was quoted as saying.

She sometimes throws away a 50 paise coin having the picture of King Tribhuvan from her window saying 'Go and sew a dress for yourself,' he said.

The frail woman is sometimes taken to the Narsingh Temple situated at the Hanumandhoka Old Palace complex, 3 km south from the palace. "That is the only outing for the old lady," the staff said.

According to a former army man, the old lady is given only simple food and dress.

King Tribhuvan went to exile in India in 1950 along with his family members when Nepali Congress led a revolution against the Rana rulers.

Gyanendra's father Mahendra also had a son from his mistress, who belonged to a "lower" caste.