by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014
King Letsie III of Lesotho; Credit – By 首相官邸ホームページ, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112032290
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.
Photo Credit – www.corbisimages.com
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)
The Lesotho Royal Family; Credit – https://face2faceafrica.com/
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.
Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry join some children in a kneeling dance in Lesotho; Photo Credit – www.thetimes.co.uk
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