Ntfombi (born Ntfombi Tfwala; 27 December 1949) has been Queen Mother of Eswatini since 1986. She was also

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

from 1983 to 1986. She is the mother of King

Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini; 19 April 1968) is the ''Ngwenyama'' (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He heads an absolute monarchy, as he has veto power over all branches of government and is constitutionally immune fr ...

Early life and marriage

Ntfombi married King

Sobhuza II of Swaziland Sobhuza II (; also known as Nkhotfotjeni, Mona; 22 July 1899 – 21 August 1982) was ''Ngwenyama'' (King) of Swaziland (now Eswatini) for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history. Sobhuza was bo ...

, with whom she had a son, Prince Makhosetive Dlamini. In 1982 King Sobhuza designated another of his wives, Queen Dzeliwe, as the ''Ndlovukati'' to reign as joint sovereign with his future successor. Instead of recognizing one of her sons as his

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

, he indicated to his '' Loqoqo'' that he wanted Prince Makhosetive Dlamini to succeed him on the throne. In June 1982 he also extended the authority of the ''Loqoqo'', empowering it to act as a "Supreme Council of State", free to appoint an "Authorised Person" to exercise the

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if a regent was deemed unable to do so properly.

Regency of Queen Dzeliwe

In the

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that resulted from the death of Sobhuza II, ''Ndlovukati'' Dzeliwe became

Queen Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

during the

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of the designated heir to the throne, but the ''Loqoqo'', consisting mostly of King Sobhuza's senior relatives, chiefs and advisors, usurped her authority and sacked Sobhuza's prime minister, Prince

Mabandla Dlamini Prince Mabandla Ndawombili Fred Dlamini (born 11 November 1930) was Prime Minister of Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked coun ...

, whom ''Loqoqo'' members apparently feared would strip them of their new role. Once Prince Makhosetive Dlamini attained his majority and officially became king, his mother would then be expected to be designated as the new ''Ndlovukati''.Magongo, Ellen Mary
Kingship and Transition in Swaziland, 1973–1988
Master of Arts in History dissertation.

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

. November 2009. However, Queen Dzeliwe was placed under house arrest in 1983. Following a 9-day period during which Swaziland was ruled by

Prince Sozisa Dlamini Prince Sozisa Dlamini of Swaziland (c. 1912 – 1992) was Chief of Gundvwini. He became the Authorized Person of Swaziland from 1982 to 1985 after the death of King Sobhuza II, and in 1983 was briefly the acting Regent of the country, after he de ...

, Ntfombi was selected as

queen regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. She was included in

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

's portrait series in 1985 as one of four ''

Reigning Queens ''Reigning Queens'' is a 1985 series of Screen printing, silkscreen portraits by American artist Andy Warhol. The screen prints were presented as a portfolio of sixteen; four prints each of the four Queen regnant, queens regnant at the time. D ...

'', along with queens

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Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until Abdication of Margrethe II, her abdication on 14 January 2024. Ha ...

and

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sover ...

''Indlovukazi''

In 1986, when he turned 18, Makhosetive was crowned King Mswati III. Upon becoming king, as was the custom, he declared his mother to be the ''Indlovukazi'' (a title roughly corresponding to

queen mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

, literally translated as ''Great She-Elephant'') and, as such, joint head of state. As queen mother, Ntfombi is seen as the spiritual and national head of state, while her son is considered the administrative head of state.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntfombi, Ndlovukati of Eswatini Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Queens regnant in Africa Swazi women in politics Swazi monarchs African queen mothers 20th-century women regents Female regents in Africa 1949 births 20th-century regents