II’s emajobo
ni, in southern Africa was no exception. There, Princess Margaret was to present King Sobhuza II with an order from the Queen in celebration of his eightieth birthday,” Anne recalls.
Now 87, she mentioned in the book that King Sobhuza II had promised to build Princess Margaret a straw village for her stay in Eswatini.
“We did wonder how a straw village would be equipped with bathrooms, and imagined how funny Princess Margaret would look coming out of a straw hut wearing a tiara,” she says in her book.
She went on to explain that when they arrived in the country, the straw village as promised by the King hadn’t been finished.
However, they were shown to a house reassuringly made from bricks.
Anne recalls Princess Margaret knocking on the door in sheer astonishment at what she was seeing.
The princess asked her to come and have a look at her room as there was something strange about it.
“I was getting used to the oddities on these tours but there was something particularly strange about this place,” she narrates.
“Apart from the butler who appeared to be listening outside the door at all times, the bedside tables were very far apart as though there had been a gigantic bed there before.”
She pointed out that they peered around the room suspiciously and at the same time they discovered a twoway mirror.
“Later, we found out that, in those days, brothels were not allowed in South Africa, so people would come to Swaziland to fulfil their desires,” other people.
During the consecration, Bishop Shabalala moved around the hall greeting the congregants. He was led by Khontinkosi Khumalo and presiding Bishop Nkosinathi Mnyaka. she said.
“We were horrified but it would have gone against protocol to undermine the arrangements that had been made for us so we did nothing about it.”
The author stated that it was as though they were part of the strangest of films, going from a brothel to greet King Sobhuza II, looking very English in buttoned up coats and hats.
In her story, the King was wearing his ‘traditional dress’, which didn’t leave much to the imagination. He wore no shirt at all, a sort of leather apron and had long feathers in his hair.
SEVERAL ENGAGEMENTS
“We went to several engagements during the few days before the main event – to ambassadors’ houses for lunches and dinners when King Sobhuza II would either wear his traditional dress or a military uniform,” she said.
They began to wonder what the King would be wearing for the celebration. In her recollection, Princess Margaret expressed her concern to her, as to where she would be able to pin the order from the Queen, which took the form of a ribbon.
She was to bestow on him the order during the celebrations.
She recalled Princess Margaret exclaiming, somewhat bemused: “If he doesn’t wear a top of any sort, I don’t know where I will put it!”
Amusingly, the princess was concerned that if he wore feathers, how would she have gotten the ribbon over the King’s head.
As was usual, the princess then waited to receive presents from the King of Eswatini.
Nothing happened!
Nigel Napier, who was part of the British royal delegation went to investigate and was told that the boy with the key to the safe had gone missing.
But Princess Margaret didn’t believe that story, convinced that she wasn’t being given any presents because the King hadn’t liked the gifts she had given to him.
As they were leaving, the King’s ceremonial mother, whose official title was ‘The Great She-Elephant’, gave Princess Margaret a clay vase. She was referring to the Indlovukazi of that time.
It could have been Dzeliwe who later became the Queen Regent after the death of King Sobhuza II in 1982.
“It felt very much like an afterthought but Princess Margaret accepted it graciously and I was in charge of its safe-keeping,” said Anne.
Since it was delicate and hadn’t been wrapped up, she said she kept it on her lap on the plane back to London, making every effort to ensure nothing awful happened to it.
SAFE FROM HARM
Had she known what would become of it, she said she wouldn’t have worried as much as she did about keeping it safe from harm.
About six weeks after they got back to England, she mentioned in her book that as she was having lunch with Princess Margaret in her apartment, she saw Indlovukazi’s pot on the windowsill.
As she saw her glancing at it, Princess Margaret said: “Now, Anne, I think this pot is going to have a little accident soon.”
Anne summed it up hilariously: “Sure enough, that was the last time I saw it.”
She felt rather sad, having looked after it so carefully, all the way back from Swaziland (Eswatini).