Rehana Rossouw
TRADITIONS steeped in centuries of British history will change next week when Queen Elizabeth II pulls out all the stops to honour her guest for a week, President Nelson Mandela.
Even Oxford University’s ceremonial pomp will have to travel to Buckingham Palace to join seven other universities in the garden next Wednesday to bestow honorary degrees on Mandela. No less than 15 universities have offered Mandela degrees — unprecedented for any visiting head of state to Britain.
This will also be the first time in the history of the United Kingdom that degress are bestowed at Buckingham Palace. The arrangements were made by the palace to spare Mandela trips to each university during his hectic visit.
Mandela will become the first head of state since John F Kennedy to address both British Houses of Parliament. He and daughter Zenani will be accommodated in Buckingham Palace’s sumptuous Belgian Suite, an honour usually reserved for leaders of nations far more powerful in global terms than South Africa.
The royal family is playing a far more prominent role in Mandela’s visit than it does when many other heads of state visit. The invitation to visit Britain was issued by the queen after she visited South Africa last year.
After his arrival at Heathrow, just before midday on Tuesday, Mandela will be met by Princess Anne and will be escorted to the Horse Guards Parade to greet the queen and Prince Philip. They will then set out along the most ceremonial of all parade routes, down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, with the stately avenue decked out in South African and British flags.
The queen will host a state banquet on Tuesday in honour of Mandela, who will reciprocate with a luncheon for the queen and Prince Philip at the Dorchester Hotel on Thursday. They will not be his only guests, though — trade union officials and businessmen have also been invited.
Mandela will also visit the Queen Mother for tea at Clarence House on Tuesday, and Prince Charles will accompany him on a tour of the largely black suburb of Brixton on Friday.
Mandela and the queen will not only meet on formal occasions. They will attend a concert titled Two Nations Celebrate at the Royal Albert Hall, where top international artists like Quincy Jones, Phil Collins and Hugh Masekela will perform.
Observers in Britain this week said the royal family’s personal admiration for Mandela was evident in the arrangements made for his official visit.
They added that the queen had had a long-standing interest in South African politics: “She differed with Margeret Thatcher on South Africa, and what is emerging now is that she had firmly supported the Commonwealth’s call for sanctions against South Africa during the mid-1980s at a time when Thatcher received PW Botha at Downing Street and branded the ANC a terrorist organisation.
“The one influential title the queen has retained is head of the Commonwealth. It was during the royal family’s visit to South Africa in the late 1940s that she dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth at the tender age of 21.
“She sees her role in the Commonwealth as distinct from queen of England. After all, many countries entered the Commonwealth seeking protection of the British sovereign.”
In a packed programme, Mandela will also meet Prime Minister John Major, Labour Party leader Tony Blair, Liberal Democratic Party leader Paddy Ashdown and Commonwealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku.
He ends his visit next Friday with a walk through Trafalgar Square and an appearance on the balcony of South Africa House. He sets off for a state visit to France from July 13 to 16, at the invitation of President Jacques Chirac.