(We are most grateful to Mrs Celia Brown, Honorary Secretary of the Society from 1978-1985, for providing a brief on the Society’s history she prepared for the incoming Nepalese Ambassador, Dr Subedi, in 2017, and on which this article is based).
A harmonious and friendly relationship has existed between the UK and Nepal since the Treaty of Segauli was signed in 1816. Nowhere has this special relationship been better exemplified than in the Britain-Nepal Society, which was founded in November 1960 during the State Visit to the UK of King Mahendra and Queen Ratna of Nepal (click here to see a 2-minute Pathe News video of the visit).
First Secretary Jhahendra Singha and his wife Bhuban Singha from the Nepal Embassy, together with Pashpupati Rana and Prabal Rana, were the prime movers in the formation of the Society, with enthusiastic support from many British friends. King Mahendra generously donated E500 to start the Society. The opening reception was held at the Dorchester Hotel which His Majesty and Queen Ratna attended together with a distinguished gathering of guests.
The famous Himalayan mountaineer Lord Hunt was elected President of the Society. Bhuban Singha, whose father had been Nepalese Ambassador to London during the Second World War, was appointed Chairman, Mrs. Ruth Rhodes became Honorary Secretary, and Mrs. Mayura Brown Honorary Treasurer. The Committee decided to set up a programme of talks covering every aspect of Nepalese life and culture, although the Socieety was to be strictly apolitical. Members were drawn from all walks of life including mountaineers, travellers, teachers, returned volunteers, aid workers, doctors, business people, members of the Diplomatic Service and serving and retired officers of the Brigade of Gurkhas.
The first Britain-Nepal Society talk, about the Sherpas of Eastern Nepal, was given by the anthropologist, Professor von Furer Haimendorf of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, and attended by about 70 members. It was followed by a film of Khumjung and neighbouring villages. An Annual General Meeting followed soon afterwards at the Nepalese Embassy on the 20th October 1961 by invitation of the new Ambassador, Mr. Kaliprasad Upadhyay. This invitation was the first of many received from successive Ambassadors who without exception have been kind enough to support and encourage the Society.
The Yeti Association was also set up in 1960 to bring together Nepali people living, studying and working in the UK. Its founder members included Pashupati SJB Rana, Hemang Dixit, Angur Baba Joshi, S K Malla, Prabal Rana and Surya B Basnyat. The Crown Prince, later to become King Birendra, was at that time studying at Eton and became the Yeti Association’s Patron. Members of the Association were encouraged to attend Britain-Nepal Society events, and young Nepalis from the many Nepalese students’ and other associations there now are in the UK continue to do so.
In 1963 Mrs Rhodes, the Honorary Secretary, organized the Society’s first summer outing. It consisted of a coach trip through the Cotswolds and a picnic lunch followed by a visit to Stanway Hall by invitation of Lady Violet Benson, a Society member. A number of ‘Yetis’ joined the trip and appreciated the chance to learn about the British countryside.
The Society’s annual Nepali suppers did not begin until February 1968. Miss Jacqueline Cheney 
organized the first event which was held at New Zealand House courtesy of Sir Edmund Hillary, an honorary member of the Society. The Committee ‘borrowed’ Mr Mohun Sing and his son Puran from Mr Anthony Wieler, a former Gurkha officer, who with the help of ladies on the Committee cooked the meal – and did the washing up afterwards! As the number of diners increased it became difficult for the amateurs and they were very pleased to find Mr Ishwar Manandhar, owner of Natraj, one of the first Nepali restaurants in London. Mr Manandhar remained the Society’s caterer for many years and the buffet-style suppers continued to be held at New Zealand House until 1990. Since then they take place in the hall of St Columba’s Church, Pont Street, Knightsbridge each February. Mr Khembahadur Thapa of the Munal Tandoori restaurant in Putney provides the catering but the Committee and members of the Society still organise the tables, seating arrangements and flowers, and continue to clear up afterwards. It is a long-standing tradition that Headquarters Brigade of Gurkhas provide a piper at the event. In the early days of the Society, when the British Army was much larger than it is today, the Brigade also provided smartly dressed orderlies to help the Committee at the Annual Suppers.
The Society’s annual programme of events has in recent years consisted of the Annual Supper in February, a summer picnic, an Annual General Meeting at the Nepalese Embassy, and 2-3 talks arranged in London.
In 1985 the Society celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Lord Hunt began the celebrations with an illustrated lecture entitled ‘An Odyssey of a Mountaineer’ at the Royal Society of Arts in the Strand. This was followed by a dinner at the House of Commons hosted by the Speaker of the House, The Right Honourable Bernard Weatherall, and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Nepal, Sir Neil Thorne. Prince Gyanendra and Princess Komal were the Guests of Honour and leading members of the Society were invited. The celebrations culminated with a Reception held in the magnificent setting of the Banqueting House on the 2nd October 1985 and the Society was greatly honoured with the presence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales who had become Colonel-in-Chief of the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) in 1978. In 2010 the Society celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a splendid Reception in the Durbar Court Of the Foreign Office in the presence of His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, the Society’s Patron.
From 1977-2020 the Society published a Journal to provide members of Society who were unable to attend meetings in London a record of the lectures and other interesting articles. The founding Editor, Lieutenant Colonel HCS Gregory edited it for twenty years at which point Lieutenant Colonel GD Birch took over. Sadly the costs of producing hard copy Journals became prohibitive, but since January 2025 the Society has published a short, monthly newsletter, the BritNepal News, in conjunction with its sister organization the Britain-Nepal NGO Network (BRANNGO).
The Society has always been quick to respond generously to disasters in Nepal. A good example is the series of earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015. The Society quickly provided money from its reserves to the Gurkha Welfare Scheme, The Britain-Nepal Medical Trust and the Nepalese Embassy’s Emergency Relief Fund. An additional £6,000 was raised at an auction of promises quickly organised by Committee members at a fundraising event held at the Embassy in the presence of our President HRH The Duke Of Gloucester, who addressed the gathering. A number of unsold auction items were rolled forward to an on-line auction organised by the Chairman’s wife, Fiona Potter, raising further funds. In 2019 and 2020 the Society also 
donated generously to alleviate the effects of the Covid pandemic by funding respirators for Nepalese hospitals, which were sourced and delivered in Nepal by Kirtijai Pahari, the Chair of the Society’s Youth Committee. Donations were also made in the wake of the Jajarkot earthquake in 2023.
The Society’s generosity to those in need in Nepal was always spontaneous and ad hoc. Following the Covid pandemic the then Chairman, Mr Andy Sparkes, a former British Ambassador to Nepal, initiated discussions about putting fund-raising and grant-making on a more formal and effective basis by making the Society a registered charity. This proved not to be possible because of the long-standing social nature of most of the Society’s activities, but in 2024 the Charity Commissioners approved the setting up of the Britain-Nepal Charitable Trust to improve and enhance the Society’s philanthrophic activities, details of which can be found elsewhere on this website. In December 2024 the election of Mr Nick Hinton, a former Gurkha officer and businessman, to the chair of the Society and the Trust united both these organisations with BRANNGO, whose chair he already occupied. Further convergence and synergies between these organisations are currently under discussion, and offer the exciting and inspiring prospect of being able to strengthen still further the bonds of friendship, as well as providing even more in the way of assistance to those in need in Nepal.