ninme

Swazi king chooses wife number 13

Peter will remember when King Mswati III chose his last bride, about four months ago according to this article, though it seems like more like six. It was preblog, but it was just fascinating. This girl was a beauty queen, and she was at this pageant and then she disappeared, and her parents told the media she’d gong to visit cousins, then they said she wasn’t visiting cousins, because everyone knew the king had chatted her up, then finally they admitted it, but then they had to put everyone’s minds at ease that she’d gone with the king of her own volition and wasn’t coerced.

I found the Swazi Times through the Beeb. It’s in English. It’s a great read. And a really good newspaper, with a great site, nice features. It’s certainly better run than some small town American papers. But it’s in this teeny African country with the world’s last absolute monarch and the highest AIDS rates in Africa. Fascinating!

Apparently when the king chooses a wife, he sleeps with her and she becomes a sort of fiancee, but not a wife until she gets pregant, then it’s automatic. His first wife is a practicing lawyer, which is terribly unusual.

Of course, 40% of the people probably have AIDS and the people rely on food aid, then he goes out and blows $500,000 on a Maybach car, which “has a television, DVD player, 21-speaker surround-sound system, fridge, cordless telephone and sterling silver champagne flutes.” So.

Here’s the homepage of the Government of Swaziland.