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African monarch selects bride, 17

The African king's lavish lifestyle, including fine homes and cars for all his wives and bride-to-be, contrasts with the poverty of most of his subjects.

NHLANGANO, Swaziland - King Mswati III has chosen a 17-year-old as his bride-to-be, selecting a teenager just a month after retreating from a campaign to encourage girls to wait until they are 18 to have sex.

Ntfonjeni Dlamini, in charge of traditional matters for the royal family, told state radio Sunday that the chosen girl is Phindile Nkambule. Students at the private high school she had attended in the capital said they had already heard she was dropping out to marry the king.

In 2001, Mswati temporarily revived the ancient umchwasho rite, which bans sexual relations for girls younger than 18 in a bid to fight AIDS. About 40 percent of this African nation's 1-million people are infected with HIV.

But the rite - symbolized by the wearing of woolen tassels - was ridiculed as old-fashioned and unfairly focused on girls. In August, the king announced he was ending the ban a year early.

Speculation that Phindile would be the next royal bride has been rife since she was seen being driven by royal bodyguards at the time of the annual reed dance, which came days after the king ended the umchwasho ban.

According to tradition, the king is meant to select a bride at the reed dance, the culmination of a rite of spring at which girls gather reeds to build a windbreak for the queen mother. Phindile was among the thousands of girls who performed before the king at the reed dance.

In recent years, the king has increasingly made his bridal choice in private, after a thorough screening by palace aides and his mother.

According to Swazi tradition, the king is always meant to have a bride in waiting, but can only marry her when she is pregnant. Mswati, 37, has 12 wives, one other bride-to-be and 27 children.

Traditionally, Swazi kings allied themselves through marriage with each of the nation's powerful families. Mswati's late father, King Sobhuza II, who led the country to independence from Britain in 1968, had more than 70 wives.

Some Swazis, though, question whether ancient traditions fit modern needs. Mswati's lavish lifestyle, including fine homes and cars for all his wives and brides-to-be, contrasts with the absolute poverty of most of his subjects.

When the king chose a 17-year-old as his ninth wife in 2001, he was accused of violating his own anti-AIDS chastity campaign. The king's aides argued the ban was designed to discourage casual relationships, not marriage.

[Last modified September 27, 2005, 02:45:31]