Seretse and Ruth: The Love Story

In 1966 the Republic of Botswana came into existence, and this is the tale of how one family played a central role in the country's development. This biography focuses on the Khama family, and in particular, Seretse Khama: a statesman, chief, husband, and father. Dwelling on the last two aspects of this important figure, this account demonstrates how, in the face of great difficulties and opposition, Sereste and Ruth—a black man and a white woman—were united in a fruitful marriage that showed the world how people from different traditions might live happily. In many respects, their personal story, so movingly recounted here, mirrors the beliefs of the country itself, for Botswana has always stressed the importance of social harmony. Sereste was an Oxford-educated African king. She was a white Englishwoman working as a clerk at Lloyd’s of London. Now their 1948 marriage, which caused scandal in Apartheid-stricken South Africa and the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (later Botswana), is to be the subject of a new period drama starring Britain’s David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. Oyelowo is in talks to play Seretse Khama, who in 1965 became independent Botswana’s first president. He was also kgosi (king) of the Bamangwato people, having been crowned at the age of four in 1925. Pike is in line to star as Ruth Williams, who would go on to be the first lady of Botswana between 1966 and 1980. The marriage was vehemently opposed by the racist South African government, which bullied Britain’s Labour party into exiling the royal couple from Bechuanaland in 1951. The king’s uncle and sometime regent, Tshekedi Khama, also tried and failed to have his nephew deposed. Williams, meanwhile, proved suprisingly popular in Africa.