by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

The heir apparent to the throne of Lesotho, Prince Lerotholi Mohato Bereng Seeiso is the third child and the only son of King Letsie III of Lesotho and Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso, born Anna Karabo Motsoeneng. Born on April 18, 2007, in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, he was named in honor of Lerotholi Letsie, the Paramount Chief of the Basotho from 1891 to 1905, during the time the country was a British protectorate.

Prince Lerotholi has two elder sisters:

• Princess Senate Mohato Seeiso – baptized Mary (born 2001)
• Princess Maseeiso Mohato Seeiso (born 2004)

On June 2, 2007, at the Saint Louis Church in Matsieng, Lesotho, Prince Lerotholi was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church as David by Bernard Mohlalisi, Archbishop of Maseru and Head of the Roman Catholic Church in Lesotho. His godfather was Principal Chief of Likhoele Lerotholi Seeiso.

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Prince Lerotholi Seeiso. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Lerotholi_Seeiso> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Web.archive.org. 2007. Baptism Of Prince Lerotholi. [online] Available at: <https://web.archive.org/web/20070805041609/http://www.lesotho.gov.ls/articles/2007/Baptism_Prince_Lerotholi.php> [Accessed 25 August 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho is the wife of King Letsie III of Lesotho. Born Anna Karabo Motšoeneng on June 2, 1976, at the Maloti Adventist Hospital in Mapoteng, Lesotho, she is the eldest of the five children of Thekiso and Makarabo Motšoeneng and was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church.

From 1990 – 1996, Anna spent her secondary school years at Machabeng International College in Maseru, Lesotho where she completed her International General Certificate for Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Diploma. In 1997, Anna enrolled at the National University of Lesotho to pursue her Bachelor of Science degree. Her studies were interrupted by her engagement to King Letsie III in October 1999.

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Anna and King Letsie III were married on February 18, 2000, at Setsoto Stadium in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho The national sports stadium was filled to its capacity of 40,000 people, with thousands turned away. The marriage ceremony was conducted by Bernard Mohlalisi, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Maseru. Guests included The Prince of Wales, King Mswati III of Swaziland, and Nelson Mandela. The bride wore a white wedding gown with a long train and the groom was dressed in a suit. King Letsie said Anna would be his only wife, going against the tradition in an area where polygamy is relatively common. After the ceremony, the bride and the groom left for a luncheon amid deafening cheers, singing, and ululating from the crowd. The couple hosted an evening banquet for their guests. After her marriage, Anna was known as Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso.

King Letsie and Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso had three children:

• Princess Senate Mohato Seeiso – baptized Mary (born 2001)
• Princess Maseeiso Mohato Seeiso (born 2004)
• Prince Lerotholi Mohato Bereng Seeiso – baptized David (born 2007)

As a commoner marrying into the royal family, Queen Masenate was especially grateful for the support she received from her mother-in-law Queen Mamohato. She was deeply saddened by the death of Queen Mamohato in 2003 and regretted losing her tutor and maternal figure.

Queen Masenate is Patron to a number of organizations including the Lesotho Red Cross Society, SOS Children’s Village, People with Disabilities, and her alma mater, Machabeng International College. She is especially interested in projects that are aimed at helping people with disabilities to be better heard in their communities. During her schooling at Machabeng College, Queen Masenate was involved in community service at Angela School for the Disabled and Centre for the Blind. She also strongly supports the work undertaken with HIV/AIDS patients and has been involved in several awareness programs in Lesotho. As the Queen of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Queen Masenate becomes the Regent whenever King Letsie is absent from the country.

King Letsie and Queen Masenate spend time managing their agricultural operations. Both husband and wife are interested in crop and livestock farming and the family boasts of bumper harvests every year and many highly productive cattle, goats, and sheep in the mountains.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_%27Masenate_Mohato_Seeiso> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Government of Lesotho. 2020. THE MONARCHY. [online] Available at: <https://www.gov.ls/the-monarchy/> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Iol.co.za. 2000. King Letsie Takes First And Last Bride. [online] Available at: <https://www.iol.co.za/sport/soccer/africa/king-letsie-takes-first-and-last-bride-28664> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• News.bbc.co.uk. 2000. BBC News | AFRICA | Lesotho’s Batchelor King Weds. [online] Available at: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/647779.stm> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Pt.wikipedia.org. 2020. Masenate Mohato Seeiso. [online] Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masenate_Mohato_Seeiso> [Accessed 25 August 2020]

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Moshoeshoe II was Paramount Chief of Basutoland from 1960 – 1965 and King of Lesotho from 1965 – 1990. The Kingdom of Lesotho is a country completely within the borders of South Africa. From 1822 – 1868, Lesotho was called Basutoland and was ruled by King Moshoeshoe I, the son of a minor tribal chief. In 1868, Basutoland became a British Crown Colony.  Kings and then Paramount Chiefs still held power in Basutoland during the period of British colonization.  During the time of British colonization, the native rulers were known as Paramount Chiefs. Basutoland gained its independence from the United Kingdom and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966. King Moshoeshoe II was the first King of the independent country of Lesotho.

King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho was born as Constantine Bereng Seeiso on May 2, 1938, in Morija, Basutoland now in Lesotho. Known as Bereng, his father was Simon Seeiso Griffith (1905 – 1940), Paramount Chief of Basutoland, and his mother was his father’s second wife Mabereng, a woman from the Batlokoa tribe. Bereng had one younger full brother Mathealia, one half-sister Ntšebo from his father’s first marriage to Mantšebo, and one younger half-brother Leshoboro from his father’s third marriage to Maleshoboro. His father Simon Seeiso Griffith died on December 26, 1940, at the age of 35. Although the official medical records say he died of gangrene, it is commonly believed that he was poisoned.

After Simon Seeiso Griffith died in 1940, his first and senior wife Mantšebo (1902 – 1964) became the ruler of Basutoland from 1941 – 1960, as the regent for her two-year-old stepson Bereng, the future Moshoeshoe II. Mantšebo was also made the guardian of Bereng. Mantšebo and Bereng’s mother Mabereng hated each other. Mabereng and her supporters kept Bereng away from the direct control of the regent Mantšebo because they feared she might have him killed.

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British Commonwealth delegates Kghari Seghela (Chief of the Bakwena Tribe), King Sobhuza II  of Swaziland and the future King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho arrive in London to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

As Bereng grew older, his mother began to have more of a say in his affairs. She arranged to have him raised in her Roman Catholic faith and rejected a plan to have him taught at a non-denominational government school. Instead, from 1948 – 1954, Bereng attended the Roman Catholic Roma Primary School in Roma, founded around 1860 as the first Catholic mission station in what is now Lesotho. Further conflict over schooling resulted in a full-scale war between the royal widows which only ended when Bereng left Lesotho to continue his education in the United Kingdom. There he attended Ampleforth College, run by the Benedictine monks, in North Yorkshire, England for his secondary education from 1954 – 1957. Bereng then studied Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University until 1960.

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King Moshoeshoe II, circa 1970

Initially, it was planned that Bereng would take on his role as Paramount Chief of Basutoland at the age of 25. However, a dispute with Mantšebo, the regent, led him to take over the office three years earlier than planned with the support of most of the other tribal chiefs. On March 12, 1960, Bereng took the name of his great-great-grandfather Moshoeshoe I and was sworn in as Moshoeshoe II, Paramount Chief of Basutoland, still a British protectorate. On April 30, 1965, Basotholand became an autonomous kingdom and Moshoeshoe II became king. Basutoland became an independent kingdom under the name of Lesotho on October 4, 1966.

In August 1962, Moshoeshoe II married Tabitha ‘Masentle Lerotholi Mojela (1941 – 2003), daughter of Lerotholi Mojela, Chief of Tsakholo. After her marriage, she was known as Queen Mamohato. The couple had three children:

• King Letsie III of Lesotho (David Mohato Bereng Seeiso) (born 1963), married Anna Karabo Mots’oeneng (Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso), had two daughters and one son
• Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso (born 1966), married Machaka Makara (Princess Mabereng Seeiso), had two sons and one daughter
• Princess Constance Christina Maseeiso (1969-1994)

In 1970, a conflict arose between King Moshoeshoe II and Prime Minister Joseph Leabua Jonathan. The opposition and the king disagreed with Prime Minister Jonathan’s decision to suspend parliament and invalidate the election results, which had been unfavorable for the prime minister. In February 1970, Moshoeshoe II fled to the Netherlands and his wife Mamohato took over as regent. It was not until December 5, 1970, that the king, after promising not to interfere in politics again, was allowed to return to Lesotho.

In January 1986, Prime Minister Jonathan was overthrown in a military coup. The new leader, Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya, gave the king some legislative and executive duties. However, the king came into conflict with Lekhanya when he admitted that he had single-handedly shot a student and expelled African National Congress (ANC) members from Lesotho.

In February 1990, Moshoeshoe fled to the United Kingdom, and in December 1990, he was deposed and his elder son became king, taking the name Letsie in honor of Letsie I, the eldest son of King Moshoeshoe I, the founder of the Basotho nation. In 1991, Lekhanya lost power and the new army chief, Colonel Elias Phisoana Ramaema, allowed Moshoeshoe to return to Lesotho as a citizen. King Letsie III, who was embarrassed at being king while his father was still alive, tried in vain to persuade the government to reinstate his father as king, and in August 1994 he enacted a new coup d’état with the army. Having obtained power, Letsie promised to return it to the previous government on the condition that Moshoeshoe II would return to being King of Lesotho, achieving this result in 1995.

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President Nelson Mandela of South Africa (left) appears with King Moshoeshoe II (right) during his state visit to Lesotho, July 12, 1995

King Moshoeshoe II’s second reign was brief. In the Maloti Mountains in Lesotho, 57-year-old Moshoeshoe’s car plunged off a mountain road during the early hours of January 15, 1996. The accident also killed his chauffeur. King Moshoeshoe had left at 1:00 AM for a late-night visit to his cattle herds in the royal village at Matsieng. In rural southern Africa, cattle are the prime measure of wealth, so a government statement that the king set out at 1:00 AM to visit his cattle was not a surprise.

Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral ceremony. The procession stretched for miles along the road from the king’s favorite farm in Matsieng to Thaba Bosiu, the birthplace of the Basotho nation and the burial place of its kings. Behind the king’s coffin, wrapped in the royal standard and borne on a gun carriage, came the limousines of diplomats and dignitaries. Among those attending were Presidents Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Frederick Chiluba of Zambia, and Ketumile Masire of Botswana – the leaders of southern Africa’s big powers. King Moshoeshoe II was buried at Thaba Bosiu, the stronghold of King Moshoeshoe I (reigned 1822 – 1870) and once the capital of Basutoland.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Moshoeshoe II.. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshoeshoe_II.> [Accessed 24 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. ‘Mantšebo. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Mant%C5%A1ebo> [Accessed 24 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Moshoeshoe II Of Lesotho. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshoeshoe_II_of_Lesotho> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Nl.wikipedia.org. 2020. Moshoeshoe II Van Lesotho. [online] Available at: <https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshoeshoe_II_van_Lesotho> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• The Independent. 1996. Lesotho Buries Its Stormy King. [online] Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/lesotho-buries-its-stormy-king-1325989.html> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1996. King Of Tiny Land Circled By South Africa Dies In Car Plunge. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1996/01/16/076350.html?pageNumber=4> [Accessed 25 August 2020].
• Washington Post. 1996. King Moshoeshoe II Dies At 57. [online] Available at: <https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/01/16/king-moshoeshoe-ii-dies-at-57/8734198f-b7db-4c18-a9c0-ce0efc1cc147/> [Accessed 25 August 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a country completely within the borders of South Africa. From 1822 – 1868, Lesotho was called Basutoland and was ruled by King Moshoeshoe I, the son of a minor tribal chief. In 1868, Basutoland became a British Crown Colony.  Kings and then Paramount Chiefs still held power in Basutoland during the period of British colonization.  Basutoland gained its independence from the United Kingdom and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966. King Letsie’s father, King Moshoeshoe II, was the first King of Lesotho.

King Letsie III of Lesotho was born July 17, 1963, at Scott Hospital in Morija in the British Crown Colony of Basutoland, now the African country of Lesotho.  He was named Mohato Bereng Seeiso and was christened into the Roman Catholic Church as David. His parents were King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho and Queen Mamohato Bereng Seeiso (née Princess Tabita ‘Masentle Lerotholi Mojela).

King Letsie had two siblings:

• Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso (born 1966), married Princess Mabereng Seeiso of Lesotho (born ‘Machaka Makara), had two sons and one daughter
• Princess Constance Christina Maseeiso (1969-1994)

King Letsie began his primary education in 1968 at Iketsetseng Private School in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. In 1973, he went to the United Kingdom to attend St Martin’s Ampleforth, a Roman Catholic independent preparatory school run by the Benedictine Order in Yorkshire, England. King Letsie then began to attend his father’s alma mater, Ampleforth College in 1977, which is affiliated with St Martin’s Ampleforth. He completed his secondary education at Ampleforth College in 1980. From 1980 to 1984 King Letsie attended the National University of Lesotho where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in law. From 1984 and 1986 he completed a Diploma in English Legal Studies at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. In 1989, King Letsie studied Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. At the same time, he was enrolled at Wye College of the University of London where he studied agricultural economics.

In 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was deposed and Letsie became king. He took the name Letsie in honor of King Letsie I, the eldest son of King Moshoeshoe I, the founder of the Basotho nation. In 1991, former King Moshoeshoe II was allowed to return to Lesotho as a citizen. King Letsie III, who was embarrassed at being king while his father was still alive, tried in vain to persuade the government to reinstate his father as king, and in August 1994 he enacted a new coup d’état with the army. Having obtained power, Letsie promised to return it to the previous government on the condition that Moshoeshoe II would return to being King of Lesotho, achieving this result in 1995. King Moshoeshoe II’s second reign was brief. In the Maloti Mountains in Lesotho, 57-year-old Moshoeshoe and his chauffeur were killed when their car plunged off a mountain road during the early hours of January 15, 1996, and Letsie became king again.

King Letsie became engaged to Anna Karabo Mots’oeneng, the eldest child of Thekiso and ‘Makarabo Mots’oeneng, on October 23, 1999. The queen-to-be was born in Mapoteng in the Berea District of Lesotho. She attended the National University of Lesotho and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. The couple was married on February 18, 2000, in the Lesotho capital city of Maseru. The ceremony was held at the national sports stadium with a crowd of 40,000 people watching. Maseru’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Bernard Mohlalisi officiated at the ceremony.

King Letsie and Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso have three children:

• Princess Senate Mohato Seeiso – baptized Mary (born 2001)
• Princess Maseeiso Mohato Seeiso (born 2004)
• Prince Lerotholi Mohato Bereng Seeiso – baptized David (born 2007)

In April 2006, King Letsie’s brother, Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry formed a charity called Sentebale to support organizations working with Lesotho’s disadvantaged young people and children, particularly those orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS.  Find out more about Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry’s charity at the official website: Sentebale.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty