Posted on 09/06/2004 6:08:44 PM PDT by aculeus
King Mswati of Swaziland has chosen a 16-year-old beauty queen to be his 13th wife after the annual reed dance ritual in which 20,000 bare-breasted maidens perform in his honour, hoping to catch his eye.
The maiden, a finalist in the Miss Teenage Swaziland competition, was whisked off for the much more modern routine of an Aids test - 40 per cent of the country's population are HIV positive - before being taken to the heavily protected seclusion of a royal guest house.
The news was greeted without enthusiasm by most of the mountain kingdom's people, who are becoming increasingly restless with the self-indulgence and profligacy of the 36-year-old king, Africa's last absolute monarch. He has been accused by local opposition politicians, trade unions and human rights groups of increasingly heavy-handed and autocratic rule.
But King Mswati insists he is following another old Swazi tradition of building a palace for each of his wives, a practice which his critics say places an unncessary burden on dwindling state funds.
The International Monetary Fund has advised the monarch and his government against heavy expenditures on luxuries in an impoverished nation with an ailing economy, a record budget deficit and widespread food shortages. Only last year, the IMF said Swaziland risked alienating international donors with the purchase of a £27.6 million private jet for the king's use.
King Mswati, who was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset, where he was known as "Mac", has remained defiant in the face of the IMF warnings and the criticism of his own people.
"My government will continue to spend as it sees fit," he told the Times of Swaziland recently.
Women's rights groups had hoped that King Mswati would be satisfied with 12 wives, although Swazi tradition puts no limit on the number a king may choose. His father, King Sobhuza, had at least 70.
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
"Beats your average frat party" ping!
And then he gets to schtoof the best one. It's fantastic to be king.
Tom Servo: When Kennedys ruled the earth!
Ahem....were I King, I would decree that Kings could now select from finalists in other nations...like Miss Teenage Sweden.
Pix please?
Roaylty fans ping.
Anyone know where we can find out if Swaziland receives foreign aid or IMF loans?
What the hell....more wives...more palaces!
Aids...40%...so what, the US will send us money.
Roger that
Meanwhile, the people of his country starve while he spends the tax money of others (mostly Americans) that supports this idiocy.
He has to look at 20K young, bare breasted ladies and can only pick one? Over what time peiod?
Billy Clinton has to be burning in envy....
Maybe Bill heard of this and it led to his health problems... and they said America was great.
Sure beats same-sex marriage!
Boy I'm sure glad the IMF is keeping close tabs on international donations to Swaziland /sarcasm off.
If their cycles synched up he would be in a WORLD OF HURT. The king would have to take up fishing.
Once again were evil for thinking we should spread democracy around the globe.
Best I could find...2003 version??
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