On 20 September, 1948, the regent of Bechuanaland’s dominant Bamangwato tribe received a letter that was to change the course of history. His nephew, Seretse Khama, the young king in waiting, wrote from his studies in England that he was to marry in a fortnight’s time: “I realise that this matter may not please you,” Khama admitted, “because the tribe will not like it as the person I am marrying is a white woman.”
In the end, Khama’s troubles were less with his own tribe than with the British empire. This was the prelude to some disgraceful British politicking, as shown in A United Kingdom, a new film about the young couple’s romance against the odds, starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. The British government did its utmost to stop Khama returning to Botswana with his white wife, to avoid souring relations with South Africa.
The marriage became a cause celebre that highlighted the racial politics of Southern Africa. Khama was opposed by members of his own tribe and South Africa, while the British government did its best (or worst) to limit the damage to its regional policy, which aimed to pacify Pretoria. Even Khama’s uncle was torn between the tribal concerns and traditions of the tribe and his desire to support the rightful king – his ward since the age of four, who referred to him as “father”.
Though a young Tony Benn supported the Khamas’ cause in Britain (the couple were later to name one of their sons Anthony in his honour),
it was not simply a case of left v right. The Labour prime minister Clement Attlee evidently felt his hands were tied, writing: “We are invited to go contrary to the desires of the great majority of the Bamangwato tribe solely because of the attitude of the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia.”
His Conservative successor, Winston Churchill, having initially promised to support the Khamas’ cause, turned his back on them after he was elected. He dismissed protests in Bechuanaland in support of their exiled leader as “an angry mob armed with stones and staves, inflamed with alcohol, and inspired with liberal principles”.
Despite the furore that surrounded the marriage, the Khamas remained united, and Ruth was a great source of strength to her husband. Seretse Khama was eventually elected as the first president when Bechuanaland became independent in 1966, and their son Ian is president today. That this year the Republic of Botswana celebrates its 50th anniversary owes much to Seretse’s leadership, including a lifelong opposition to apartheid. No less than Nelson Mandela cited the Khamas as “a shining beacon of light and inspiration”.
Guy Arnold is an expert on African affairs and the author of more than 50 books. In 2002 he wrote Ruth Khama’s obituary
