Swaziland’s King Mswati III has chosen an 18-
year-old beauty pageant contestant as his
15th wife, a palace spokesman said
Tuesday, days before a much-criticised
parliamentary vote.
can confirm that the king has introduced to
the nation a new liphovela (royal fiancee),”
said Ludzidzini palace governor Timothy
Mtetwa. Mswati, a 45-year-old who is sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, introduced
Sindiswa Dlamini at a Reed Dance
celebration over the weekend, Mtetwa told
AFP. She wore red feathers on her head — a sign
of royalty. The young woman graduated from
Mbabane’s St. Francis High School last year
and is a finalist in the Miss Cultural Heritage
beauty pageant. The winner will be
announced on September 28. The king has come under fire for his
household’s lavish lifestyle while the tiny
mountain kingdom’s 1.2 million people
struggle to make a living. Mswati reportedly has a personal fortune of
around $200 million (152 euros) and the UN
estimates that 70 percent of his 1.2 million
subjects live below the poverty line. He has steadfastly resisted reforms. The new engagement was announced at a
festival which also counted regional
delegates who will observe parliamentary
elections on Friday. Critics have slammed the polls as a sham,
partly because political parties are banned
and candidates are hand-picked by
traditional leaders. The weekend’s celebrations were a smaller
repeat of last month’s official annual Reed
Dance, where young virgins from across the
kingdom gather and dance for the king. “It just happened that the international
community was there to witness the event,”
said Mtetwa. The wedding only takes place once the
fiancee falls pregnant. Dlamini will then
become Mswati’s 14th wife. The monarch’s colourful private life is off-
limits in local media, but has drawn a lot of
international interest. Three wives left the household in recent
years. The latest, Queen LaGija, fled the
palace in 2012 claiming years of physical and
emotional abuse. Another queen, LaDube, was reportedly
abused after she was caught in bed with the
justice minister, a close friend of the king. Mswati had kidnapped and married the
queen when she was 16 in 2005.
year-old beauty pageant contestant as his
15th wife, a palace spokesman said
Tuesday, days before a much-criticised
parliamentary vote.
can confirm that the king has introduced to
the nation a new liphovela (royal fiancee),”
said Ludzidzini palace governor Timothy
Mtetwa. Mswati, a 45-year-old who is sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, introduced
Sindiswa Dlamini at a Reed Dance
celebration over the weekend, Mtetwa told
AFP. She wore red feathers on her head — a sign
of royalty. The young woman graduated from
Mbabane’s St. Francis High School last year
and is a finalist in the Miss Cultural Heritage
beauty pageant. The winner will be
announced on September 28. The king has come under fire for his
household’s lavish lifestyle while the tiny
mountain kingdom’s 1.2 million people
struggle to make a living. Mswati reportedly has a personal fortune of
around $200 million (152 euros) and the UN
estimates that 70 percent of his 1.2 million
subjects live below the poverty line. He has steadfastly resisted reforms. The new engagement was announced at a
festival which also counted regional
delegates who will observe parliamentary
elections on Friday. Critics have slammed the polls as a sham,
partly because political parties are banned
and candidates are hand-picked by
traditional leaders. The weekend’s celebrations were a smaller
repeat of last month’s official annual Reed
Dance, where young virgins from across the
kingdom gather and dance for the king. “It just happened that the international
community was there to witness the event,”
said Mtetwa. The wedding only takes place once the
fiancee falls pregnant. Dlamini will then
become Mswati’s 14th wife. The monarch’s colourful private life is off-
limits in local media, but has drawn a lot of
international interest. Three wives left the household in recent
years. The latest, Queen LaGija, fled the
palace in 2012 claiming years of physical and
emotional abuse. Another queen, LaDube, was reportedly
abused after she was caught in bed with the
justice minister, a close friend of the king. Mswati had kidnapped and married the
queen when she was 16 in 2005.
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