Move Over, Wallis Simpson - Meet Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams

You probably have heard the story of how King Edward VII abdicated the British throne in 1936 to marry the woman he loved, a Philadelphia women named Wallis Simpson. But you've probably never heard the story of Seretse Khama, Botswana's founding President, and the British woman who became his wife, Ruth Williams. Until Dia announced that she was heading off to Botswana I had never heard of Sir Seretse Khama either, but here's what I've learned about him since.

Seretse Khama, like Nelson Mandela, was born royal, the son of a tribal chieftain in what was then Bechuanaland. His father died and he became chief of the Bamangwato people in 1925. He spent most of his younger years studying in South Africa and later London, where he met Ruth. When the two married, tribal leaders joined with South Africa and British leaders to have Khama stripped of his leadership role and sent into exile. South Africa's apartheid leaders couldn't live with the example of an interracial couple occupying the seat of government just to the north, and the Brits - well they needed the South Africans as allies, so they joined in the racist effort.

The people of Botswana didn't take well to this, and the Khama couple came home in the mid 50's. Seretse waited five years before he founded the political movement that eventually led to Botswana's independence in 1965, when he became the new nation's first President.

It seems like one of those moments when the right person showed up at the right historical moment. And then they found the diamonds. Seretse Khama and the discovery of diamonds account for much of modern Botswana's history. More on that next time.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3421963/New-film-tell-explosive-tale-late-Botswanan-president.html

Soon there will be a feature length film about the great love story that dramatically impacted how Botswana developed as an independent country. And it's a story most of us have never heard.