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Welcome to the thread dedicated to the royal family of Swaziland.
Arms of the Kingdom of Swaziland
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Mswati III (born Makhosetive on April 19, 1968) of Swaziland is the king of Swaziland, and head of the Swazi Royal Family. In 1986, he succeeded his father, Sobhuza II, as absolute monarch; and in 2005, his role was modified only slightly as a constitutional monarch in this small south African state.
He is one of many sons of King Sobhuza II (who had 70 wives and at the time of his death left over 1000 grandchildren) and the only child of Ntombi Tfwala, also known as Inkhosikati LaTfwala, one of the King's younger wives. He was born at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, four months before Swaziland attained independence from Britain. When he and his mother were discharged from the hospital they went to live at one of King Sobhuza's residences of Etjeni near Masundwini Palace. His birth name was Makhosetive (King of Nations).
As a young prince, Makhosetive attended Masundwini Primary School and Lozitha Palace School. He sat for the Swaziland Primary Certificate examination in December 1982 at Phondo Royal Residence and got a First Class with merit in Mathematics and English. He developed a great interest in the royal guard, becoming the first young cadet to join the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF).
When King Sobhuza II died in 1982, the Great Council of State ( the Liqoqo) selected the 14-year-old prince Makhosetive to be the next king. For the next four years two wives of the late King Sobhuza II, Queen Dzeliwe Shongwe (1982–1983) and Queen Ntombi Tfwala (1983–1986), served as regent while he continued his education in England, attending Sherborne School, before he was called back to take over.
He was introduced as Crown Prince in September 1983 and was crowned King on April 25, 1986, aged 18 years and 6 days, and thus making him the youngest reigning monarch. The king and his mother, whose title is Indlovukazi (Great She-Elephant), rule jointly.
Today he is Africa's last absolute monarch in the sense that he has the power to choose the prime minister, other top government posts and top traditional posts. Even though he makes the appointments, he still has to get special advice from the queen mother and council, for example when he chooses the prime minister. When it comes to appointing the cabinet, he gets advice from the prime minister. He inherited a rule by decree, but did restore the nation's Parliament, which had been dissolved by his father due to the chaos of the multiparty system, that was perceived as breaking the country apart at the time considering that the country had just got its independence.
The country has its own type of democracy called the Tinkhundla system and has a constitution which allows freedom of assembly and free speech for both the media and the public. The Swaziland media in conferences with other regional media houses (MISA) says it is free to report as it pleases.
In an attempt to mitigate the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the Mswati tried to intervene in the life of his subjects in a unique manner. In 2001, the King used his traditional powers to invoke a time-honoured chastity rite (umcwasho, which encouraged all Swazi maidens to abstain from sexual relations for five years. This rite (re-introduced after suggestion from NGOs), banned sexual relations for Swazis under 18 years of age from 9 September 2001 and 19 August 2005 , but in 2005, he violated this decree when he married a 17-year-old girl, who became his 13th wife. As per custom, he was fined a cow by members of her regiment, which he duly paid.
Swazi King outlaws planned Social Forum
http://gpdhome.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/14/swaziland.gif Swaziland's absolute monarchy banned independent civil rights groups from meeting later this week, saying Tuesday that the gathering could be destabilizing.
The Southern Africa Social Forum was scheduled to take place Thursday, the same day King Mswati III was expected to appoint a new prime minister following parliamentary elections held last month that were denounced as a parody of democracy.
The reason for the most important shopping trip:The march was staged to demonstrate against a shopping trip taken by nine of King Mswati III's 13 wives last week, after they chartered a plane to go to Europe and the Middle East.
Mswati III's answer:A source is quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying: "The queens have to look radiant and that is why they have to go and buy quality for the big day [marking the 40th anniversary of independence from Britain and the 40th birthday of King Mswati]. They were being spoiled."
"I have never heard of women marching. All I know is that a woman has to seek permission from her husband to register her disagreement with whatever was happening in society but not for her to march. That is un-Swazi."
Mswati appoints PM who is against reforms
http://gpdhome.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/16/swaziland.gif Swaziland's king has appointed a new prime minister who shares the absolute monarch's distrust of democracy campaigners. King Mswati III announced Sibusiso Dlamini as his prime minister at a rally attended by around 10,000 Swazis on Thursday.
I think that his main wife is HRH Inkhsoikati Queen LaMbikiza of Swaziland. Princess Sikhanyiso's mother. Although technically she is the third wife. But she is the first one that he actually got to choose for himself. I also heard rumor that she is one of his favorites. They've had their ups and downs. But, all is well with them. They have been married for years.So who is his main wife, as in who does he bring along for state functions?
And how many children does he have?
King Mswati III meets pastors - The Swazi ObserverCan someone tell me the religion of King Mswati III?