The marula fruit doesn’t fall too far from the tree in the kingdom of Swaziland, where more and more royals seem to be born out of wedlock. We’re never told about his majesty’s origin story. We only hear how he bravely ascended to the throne at a tender age, but as to how he got there; most of us think a king and queen had a baby, resulting in Mswati. National Geographic has gone on record saying Ntombi Tfwala only married King Sobhuza after he died, as a means to lubricate the transition of power.
Adultery Is For Adults
Queen Dzeliwe was supposed to be the Queen Mother of Swaziland, as per King Sobhuza's wishes. Jonathan W. Rosen of National Geographic writes, "Although treated today as blasphemy, it’s an open secret inside Swaziland that Ntfombi, who continues to hold the powerful post of the queen mother, was never married to Sobhuza during his reign. She was a teenage maid in the house of one of his favorite wives, and was banished from the royal household when she became pregnant in 1967—a scenario recounted by Swazi elders to the civil liberties watchdog Freedom House and corroborated to me by multiple sources inside and outside of Swaziland. Sixteen years later, seeking to replace Queen Dzeliwe with a successor they could control, the Liqoqo found Ntfombi in a working-class Manzini neighborhood. In a highly usual ceremony, they staged a marriage between Ntfombi and Sobhuza’s corpse and installed her as a ruling figurehead until Mswati’s coronation.
‘Today, the consequences of this bizarre sequence of events are many. Never intended to be king, Mswati was not properly prepared for the role of monarch, says Mandla Hlatshwayo, who dealt routinely with Mswati as the president of Swaziland’s chamber of commerce and is now a prominent critic-in-exile. Unlike Sobhuza, who was groomed for the position from birth, Mswati was raised with “no expectation that he could be anything,” Hlatshwayo tells me via telephone from South Africa. Despite being sent by the royal family to a boarding school in England, Hlatshwayo says, he never developed crucial skills of diplomacy or proper respect for Swazi traditions.
It appears Princess Sikhanyiso has decided to walk in her grandmother’s footsteps. She’s always been full of surprises, the crown princess. In a royal nod to popular culture, her highness has been known to rap in her mother tongue, making her more than just a hip-hop enthusiast. It is this swimming against the tide that should come as no surprise for her to break the age-old tradition of giving birth when you are married. It is only the king’s fiancées who have to prove they are not infertile before marrying His Royal Highness. We need not mention how this proof is produced.
In many cultures, it is a shame, and considering how Princess Sikhanyiso’s pregnancy wasn’t publicized, although she proudly posted baby shower pictures on her Instagram. One can only wonder if the king is proud of his daughter. A father has high hopes for his eldest daughter; a great burden of responsibility is placed upon a child born in such a position; especially in a family as important as the royal Dlamini dynasty.
Wed Or Lock?
A normal Swazi might’ve expected the crown princess to marry another royal or someone from a very wealthy family. Rumours are to the effect that it is those the princess dates that end up benefiting more from having relationships with her. In any case, in the nation that has a South African company do its public relations and reputation management; such is but a rumour in official eyes.
She was placed into the position of Minister of ICT, she was considered a dignified maiden, but for all we know, she's just like those 231 maidens that fell pregnant during lockdown and upset the king. Nobody knows if the young man has paid damages for the princess, but if he hasn’t, it wouldn’t a surprise considering how steep the price is. She is the crown princess after all.
Bouncing Baby Blue Bloods
Maidens looked up to her; they saw a responsible, respectful, and respectable young lady who was focused more on her goals than on men. She can no longer participate in ceremonies where maidens take part, although she’s still unmarried. She cannot receive the privileges and will not be subject to the responsibilities of being a woman in society until she is married. When it comes to traditional attire, she will not dress according to the rank of married woman. At the same time, you won’t find her bare-breasted as you do the maidens during traditional ceremonies like the Reed Dance.
Do you see a trend of being born out of wedlock among royalty? Do you think it’s weird that Mswati became king even though his mother never married his father? How do you think the royal family will handle things when Princess Sikhanyiso gets married? What in the world of wedlock are you waiting for? Leave a comment, share, and FOLLOW FOR EVERYTHING KING MSWATI!
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