Commonwealth: Queen Elizabeth II’s close ties with the African continent

Elizabeth II has had special ties with former British colonies and members of the Commonwealth in Africa. From her start of reign in Kenya to her significant encounters with Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela, a look back at the Queen’s history with the African continent. Elizabeth II visited Africa 21 times. According to the Royal Family website, the Queen has visited virtually every country in the Commonwealth. But some trips marked his 70-year-long reign more than others. The first was particularly important in her career. On February 6, 1952, Princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip, already parents of Charles, born in 1948, and Anne, born in 1950, found themselves in the heart of the Aberdares massif, in the central Kenya. They treat themselves to a unique night in a wildlife observation pavilion, Treetops, located 7,000 kilometers from England. In the morning, the news falls: George VI, on the throne of the United Kingdom for 15 years, has just passed away at the age of 56. With the death of the monarch, the crown passes to his eldest daughter, then in a distant country and not yet a member of the Commonwealth – Kenya will not be admitted until 1963. Elizabeth II will only learn of the disappearance of her father after his departure from Treetops, but it is there, in this hotel, that she begins her reign.”I am quite certain that this is one of the most wonderful experiences that the Queen or the Duke of ‘Edinburgh have ever lived’, can we read in a letter written by an assistant to the royal couple, responsible for thanking the owners of the hotel. This letter, dated February 8, 1952, was framed at Treetops. The place burned down in 1954. A new, much larger establishment has since been built. Elizabeth II briefly returned to Kenya in March 1972. where she was when she became queen. This time they wear more formal outfits. The Queen sets foot in Kenya for the last time in October 1991. This Friday, September 9, the outgoing President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta – son of Jomo Kenyatta, former President who welcomed the Queen in 1972 – paid tribute to her: “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a huge icon of selfless service to humanity and a vital figurehead not only to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, of which Kenya is a prominent member, but also to the whole world.”The new President-elect of Kenya, William Ruto, also paid tribute to the Queen on Thursday, hailing her “admirable” leadership in the Commonwealth. “May his memory continue to inspire us. We join the Commonwealth in mourning and offer our condolences to the Royal Family and to the United Kingdom,” he said, describing the block as a testament to “the historic legacy ” of the Queen. I have received news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II and I send condolences to the people of the United Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/PT3Fv6ws7u— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) September 8, 2022 In Ghana, a defining dance with Kwame NkrumahAmong his tours in Africa, that of late 1961 was among the most essential, as Meriem Amellal recalls Lalmas, journalist for France 24. From November 9 to 20, 1961, the Queen decided to visit Ghana, despite opposition from the British press and politicians, who were worried about a dangerous trip and the an authoritarian drift of the Ghanaian president at the time, Kwame Nkrumah. Winston Churchill, mentor of Elizabeth II, himself called on the then Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, to convince the Queen not to visit this country which declared its independence in 1957. The sovereign refuses to cancel this visit. She knows she is eagerly awaited there. Already, in 1959, Elizabeth II was to go there. But the upcoming birth of her third child, Andrew, forced her to give it up. Kwame Nkrumah had taken this withdrawal badly. To ease tensions, the royal family had invited him to Balmoral, where the head of state had spent a few days with the queen. Later, Prince Philip went in turn to Ghana and promised an upcoming visit from his wife. Very important issues depend on this stay. Kwame Nkrumah, a Marxist, then approaches the Soviet bloc and threatens to slam the door of the Commonwealth. Upon her arrival, the Queen of England was very well received. But it was especially during a ball organized in her honor that she made an impression: in front of the cameras of the whole world, she danced with the President of Ghana. “This image seems banal today. But in the context, it was extremely avant-garde. It was a white woman dancing with a black man, it was the ruler of an empire dancing with a subject, as it was then considered, even if it is also the father of pan-Africanism and Ghanaian independence,” says Meriem Amellal Lalmas. Queen Elizabeth II dancing with Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah on November 18, 1961 in Accra. © AP The Queen’s visit will not prevent Kwame Nkrumah from getting closer to the Soviet bloc, but it will avoid a break with the Commonwealth. The queen reassures the president and helps him obtain funding. Conquered, Kwame Nkrumah declares: “The wind of change blowing over Africa has become a hurricane. Whatever the effects of this wind on History, the esteem and personal affection that we have for Your Majesty will remain The current president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, was the first head of state to respond to the disappearance of Elizabeth II on Thursday. On Twitter, he wrote: “As Head of the Commonwealth, she oversaw the dramatic transformation of the Union and led it to pay greater attention to our values ​​and better governance. She was the rock who has kept the organization strong and true to his positive beliefs, his inspiring presence, his calm, his stability and, above all, his great love and belief in the higher purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations and in its ability to be a force for good in our world will be missed.”Nelson Mandela, friend of South AfricaMember of the Commonwealth since its founding, South Africa has been a special country in the history of Elizabeth II. It was there that she went on the occasion of her first trip to the African continent, in 1947. On the spot, on April 21, the day of her 21st birthday, the future queen pronounced, on the radio from Cape Town, a founding speech of her commitment. Faithful to her custom of neutrality, the Queen will not speak on apartheid until the end of the racist regime. In his book “Great Britain and the World” (ed. Armand Colin), historian Philippe Chassaigne explains that Elizabeth II did not want to go to South Africa again “because it would have been to endorse the policy of ‘apartheid which had taken place’. At the beginning of the 1980s, she barely provided discreet support to Brian Mulroney, the Canadian Prime Minister, who was campaigning for economic sanctions against South Africa. Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, is on her opposite side. The fresh or complicated relations between Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher are also embodied around the approach of the United Kingdom vis-à-vis Nelson Mandela: while the “Iron Lady” considers the African National Congress (ANC), Madiba’s party, a “terrorist organization”, the queen reaches out to the man who has spent 27 years in prison. Shortly after her release in 1990, she welcomed Nelson Mandela to the United Kingdom. Five years later, she went herself to South Africa, where the leader of the ANC had just been elected the first President of the Republic. Previously, in 1991, Elizabeth II broke protocol by inviting Nelson Mandela to the Commonwealth summit in Harare, Zimbabwe. However, he does not have the rank required to attend the queen’s banquet. But what does it matter to her, who is aware of the symbolic significance of this invitation. Elizabeth II has already come out of her reserve, saying she is satisfied to see apartheid “dying”. Reacting to the queen’s death, the Mandela Foundation published a press release on Friday evoking the very friendly relationship between these two major figures of the 20th century: “They spoke frequently on the telephone, calling each other by their respective first names as a sign of mutual respect and affection. (…) In the years following his release, Nelson Mandela cultivated a close bond with the Queen”, whom he had nicknamed “Motlalepula” (“came with the rain”), after the 1995 visit which was marked by torrential rains. South African President Nelson Mandela welcomed to Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II, July 9, 1996. © AP Complicated relations with Robert Mugabe’s ZimbabweThe only African country to have left the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe has been a complicated partner and cumbersome for Queen Elizabeth II. In 2002, the organization decided to suspend the country from its Council, as a sanction to the presidential election organized that year. Elected in 1990 and re-elected in 1996, President Robert Mugabe won against Morgan Tsvangirai with 56.20% of the vote in an election marked by violence and fraud. A year later, Zimbabwe decided to slam the door of the Commonwealth, irritated to learn that the organization wants to maintain its suspension. Robert Mugabe takes the opportunity to describe the Commonwealth as an organization run by “racist whites”. In 2008, his new re-election, with 90.22% of the vote, was once again denounced by many democracies around the world. the Minister of Foreign Affairs, proposes to withdraw the Zimbabwean president’s honorary knighthood which was awarded to him in 1994. Elizabeth II approved this cancellation. “This decision was taken as a sign of revulsion at the human rights abuses and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe under the rule of President Mugabe,” the foreign ministry said. With AFP