The monarchy of Lesotho is the form of government used by

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

(also known as

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basot ...

until 1966) by which a

hereditary monarch A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is his ...

reigns as the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

, with their powers

regulated Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. The monarch is styled as ''Marena''; in

Sotho language Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language. Like all Ba ...

, Marena is the plural of the common noun Kings, where Morena is the singular for King. The monarch since 7 February 1996 is

King Letsie III Letsie III (born Mohato Bereng Seeiso; 17 July 1963) is King of Lesotho. He succeeded his father, Bereng Seeiso Moshoeshoe II, who was forced into exile in 1990. His father was briefly restored in 1995 but died in a car crash in early 1996, so ...

, who ascended the throne on the death of King Moshoeshoe II, his father. It is the second reign of Letsie III; his first reign lasted from 12 November 1990 to 25 January 1995.

Succession

The succession to the throne of Lesotho is laid down in Chapter V of the Constitution, which reads that: :(1) The College of Chiefs may at any time designate, in accordance with the customary law of Lesotho, the person (or the persons, in order of prior right) who are entitled to succeed to the office of King upon the death of the holder of, or the occurrence of any vacancy in, that office and if on such death or vacancy, there is a person who has previously been designated in pursuance of this section and who is capable under the customary law of Lesotho of succeeding to that office, that person (or, if there is more than one such person, that one of them who has been designated as having the first right to succeed to the office) shall become King. :(2) If, on the death of the holder of, or the occurrence of any vacancy in, the office of King, there is no person who becomes King under subsection (1), the College of Chiefs shall, with all practical speed and in accordance with the customary law of Lesotho, proceed to designate a person to succeed to the office of King and the person so designated shall thereupon become King.

Compensation

The king is granted a privy purse amounting to 52,778 USD annually.

List of kings

Kings / Paramount Chiefs of Lesotho /
Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basot ...
(1822–1966)

Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor Tribal chief, chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena tribe, Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his fat ...

: 1822 – 18 January 1870 *

Letsie I Letsie I Moshoeshoe of Lesotho (c. 1811 – 20 November 1891) was the paramount chief of Basotho (modern Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely s ...

: 18 January 1870 – 20 November 1891 * Lerotholi Letsie: 20 November 1891 – 19 August 1905 * Letsie II: 21 August 1905 – 28 January 1913 *

Nathaniel Griffith Lerotholi Nathaniel Griffith Lerotholi (1870 – 23 June 1939) was the paramount chief of Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange Ri ...

: 11 April 1913 – 23 June 1939 * Simon Seeiso Griffith: 3 August 1939 – 26 December 1940 ** ''

Gabasheane Masupha Gabasheane Masupha (26 December 1903 - 28 January 1941) was the Regent paramount chief of Lesotho (modern Basotho The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabi ...

(regent)'': 26 December 1940 – 28 January 1941 ** '' 'Mantšebo Amelia 'Matšaba (regent)'': 28 January 1941 – 12 March 1960 *

Moshoeshoe II Moshoeshoe II (2 May 1938 – 15 January 1996), previously known as Constantine Bereng Seeiso, was the Paramount Chief of Basutoland, succeeding paramount chief Seeiso from 1960 until the country gained full independence from Britain in 1966. ...

: 12 March 1960 – 4 October 1966

Kings of Lesotho (1966–present)

;Regent Head of State: * '' Queen 'Mamohato'': 5 June 1970 – 5 December 1970, 10 March 1990 – 12 November 1990 and 15 January 1996 – 7 February 1996

Timeline

Royal Standards

File:Royal Standard of Lesotho (1966–1987).svg, Royal Standard of Lesotho 1966–1987. File:Royal Standard of Lesotho (1987–2006).svg, Royal Standard of Lesotho 1987–2006. File:Royal Standard of Lesotho.svg, Royal Standard of Lesotho from October 4, 2006.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Monarchs Of Lesotho