The Queen Mother gave King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland / Eswatini, a dining room suite made of gold for his 50th birthday.
It will go alongside a lounge
suite trimmed with gold that he was given by
senior members of his government.
He also received cheques totalling at least E15 million
(US$1.2 million) to help pay for his birthday celebration that took place on 19
April 2018.
On that day he wore a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing
6 kg studded with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of
his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but
with VIP upgrades
was estimated to have cost US$30 million.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of the 1.1 million population
live in abject poverty with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day. The
global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the world
in a report
that detailed the differences in countries between the top most earners and
those at the bottom.
The Swazi
Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported for
the second day running on Wednesday (6 June 2018) that many of the King’s
subjects visited him at Lozitha Palace.
It reported that the handing over of gifts took six hours to complete.
The King has 13 palaces in impoverished Swaziland. He
also owns two private jets and fleets of top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW
cars. His family regularly travel the world on shopping
trips spending millions of dollars each time.
The Observer
reported the Queen Mother handed over her gift and said, ‘The dining room suite is made of gold. You have
come of age and you deserve to sit at a table like this.’
The newspaper reported that
more than E15 million had been given to pay for the so-called 50-50 Celebration
that marked the King’s 50th birthday and the 50th
anniversary of Swaziland’s Independence from Great Britain.
At least E1.6 million came
from public funds. The Royal Eswatini (Swaziland) Police Service and
Correctional Service gave E300,000 each and the Public Service Pension Fund
gave E1 million.
The Observer
reported King Mswati was in ‘a jovial mood as he received the gifts’.
See also
SWAZI
CABINET’S GIFT OF GOLD
SWAZI
KING AND QUEENS OF BLING
KING
WEARS WATCH WORTH US$1.6-million
KING
WEARS SUIT BEADED WITH DIAMONDS
SWAZI
ROYALS SPEND, SPEND, SPEND
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