The Royal Wedding
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Tuesday February 23^rd 2000

CAMELOT "I know what my people are thinking tonight As they stare at the castle and ponder Everyone's smiling in secret delight Whenever the wind blows this way - I can almost hear everyone say I wonder what the King is wishing tonight - He's wishing he was in Scotland fishing tonight Hey, folks - give me a break - I tried to find a picture of King Letsie III and the new queen but I couldn't get one. That means your stuck with Richard Harris. If I find a picture of the real king I'll substitute it.

Well, this is certainly the event of the year. King Letsie III (Lets-see) got married on Friday, February 19th. King Letsie is in his early thirties and is Catholic; therefore, he has only one wife. (A king in one of the more central African states got married a couple of years ago, but since it was his umpteenth wife it wasn't as big a deal.) The day was a national holiday so the children and Lois had the day off.

There was lots of fanfare, of course. Groups of children lining the streets holding Lesotho flags and singing songs when the King drove by. Police motorcycles and vehicles zooming down the street as they escorted visiting dignitaries. Policemen at every major intersection waiting to stop traffic for the speeding motorcades. At the Maseru Bridge, the border with South Africa, special VIP tables were set up for invited visitors. Can't have them queueing up on multiple lines in the hot sun, of course.

Everything is spruced up. There are colored lights strung across the streets. Our old neighborhood suddenly has street lights on every pole - the wiring looks kind of weird but the lights work and it's interesting to drive down a lighted street. And the streets - oh boy - all the streets that the VIPs travel on have had the potholes filled. United Nations Road, one of the worst, had a crew working for about a week filling in potholes. Can't have a mess right in front of the UN offices. I was hoping some VIPs would come down the main road near our house. I didn't care whether I saw them or not. I just thought it might be nice not to hear the bottom of the car get scraped every time I go to and fro; especially at the set of potholes which are strategically placed across the entire width of the street so you can't possibly avoid them.

The ceremony was perfomed by a bevy of bishops and attended by African and not-so-African bigwigs. Nelson Mandela was there, as well as the heads of various African states. I wondered who the US would send. I guess Big Al was too busy on the campaign trail. The ambassador probably had to go it alone.

The event was held at the stadium. People were camped at the gates overnight to get good seats. (Hey, who does this King think he is - a rock star?), Our neighbor, Mrs. Mohkele (Mo-kail-ee) left early in the morning but said that if she couldn't get in she would come home and watch it on TV - and that is exactly what happened. We had already made plans to watch it on TV at the home of Pastor Bryan and Eve - our neighbors from our temporary house. However, the TV could not pick up the local Lesotho station and the South African stations didn't televise it. We were reduced to listening to it on the radio (in Sesotho - which we didn't understand - though the singing was pretty) while the children watched Sesame Street with the sound turned off. Sometimes the characters' lips and the radio were in sync and it sounded like they were the ones speaking Sesotho - but I am pretty sure Bert wasn't marrying Ernie. Big Bird and Elmo sure did sing well though.

The Queen was supposedly very beautiful in her special zillion Maloti (that's money here folks) dress. However, those who saw her said the poor girl could barely move in it. The wedding is a 3 day affair. The second day of a Basuto wedding is spent at the bride's ancestral home and is hosted by the bride's family. For the queen, this is the town of Laribe (La-ree-bay). Many people, including Mrs.Mokhele, went there for the festivities. The third day was spent at the King's ancestral home. Then it's back to the the daily grind at the palace for the poor girl - and it's such a big house to clean.

All in all, it was a very festive occasion and everyone was excited about it. What a bummer that we missed it all. I ran into a teacher from the Prep School on Monday and asked her if she saw the wedding. It turns out that she had front row seats!! You see, her husband plays racquetball with the king. Wow! Talk about moving among the elite! Maybe, I could move in those circles someday. Unfortunately, racquetball is not my thing. I wonder if the king would like to get together for some Friday night poker and beer. Hmmm. However, this teacher told me that the King gets upset if he loses. Maybe, I will pass on the poker game after all. There is an old Vulcan saying, "A Smith and Wesson beats four aces."

Sala Hantle,
pz

updated 3/23/2000
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