Lesotho 
Lesotho Queen assumes royal duties

Letsie's mother, Queen Mamohato, has served as regent to the mountain nation of roughly two million rural citizens since 1995. 

Karabo is the first commoner to marry a Basotho king in modern times, and is expected to help heal the rift between her homeland South Africa and adoptive nation after South African troops invaded the landlocked kingdom in 1998 to quell political unrest.

Twenty-four year old Karabo publicly pledged on Tuesday to "obey and observe the provisions of the Constitution and all other laws, and to discharge my duties in such a manner as to preserve the character of the monarchy as a symbol of the unity of the Basotho Nation".

- I will accordingly abstain from involving the monarchy in any way in politics, or with any political group, she swore. The oath was witnessed by Letsie's brother Chief Seeiso Seeiso, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, cabinet ministers and foreign diplomats. 

Letsie married Karabo after a decade long search which prompted him to famously ask a 1996 Southern African Development Community (SADC) presidential summit to help him find a partner because "the pressure on me to find a wife soon is heavy, especially because my mother keeps reminding me about it". He finally met Karabo while she was studying for a BSc at the University of Lesotho, but only convinced her to accept the life of a royal after almost two-years of courting.

The subsequent R10 million webbing was funded by donations from overjoyed villagers and saw Nepal's crown prince, the prince of Luxembourg and high-level representatives from Qatar and Morocco visit the kingdom for the first time. Other dignitaries included Africa's elder statesmen, Nelson Mandela and Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda, Swaziland's King Mswati III and presidents Joachim Chissano of Mozambique and Festus Mogae of Botswana.

Letsie, a devout British-educated Catholic, has already announced that he intends breaking Lesotho and African tradition and will remain monogamous.

Queen Karabo meanwhile continues her studies for a BSc in biology at the New York-based Columbia University after transferring there in September 2000. Palace deputy secretary Bereng Qhobela stressed on Tuesday that Karabo's studies were part-time and largely by correspondence and would not interfere with her new royal duties. 

By Ratabane Ramainoane, African Eye News Service (AENS)

© African Eye News Service (AENS).    You can contact afrol-Gender at elin.nordhagen@afrol.com