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The Zulu royal family consists of the king of the Zulus, his consorts, and all of his legitimate descendants. The legitimate descendants of all previous kings are also sometimes considered to be members.
Misuzulu Sinqobile kaZwelithini (born 23 September 1974) is the reigning King of the Zulu nation.
King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, King Mpande, as a half-brother of the Zulu King Shaka, reigned from 1840 to 1872. Shaka’s policies and conquests transformed a small clan into one of South Africa’s most influential pre-colonial powers, extending over much of what is now KwaZulu-Natal (a province of South Africa).
The Nguni-speaking clan of the southern Bantus, which evolved into the Zulu people, takes its name from the third of its recorded chiefs. Malandela, believed to have reigned in the early part of the sixteenth century, is the patrilineal ancestor of the present king, whose lineage comes down from him through Chief Senzangakhona to the latter’s son, Shaka. Originally part of the early nineteenth century Mtetwa Empire of Dingiswayo, the Zulus united, expanded and founded an independent empire under King Shaka who, however, never married. The dynasty continued with his half-brothers, Dingane and later King Mpande, who abandoned his brother Dingane to side with the Boers. The Boers’ Commandant-General Andries Pretorius recognized Mpande’s borders in 1840. Mpande had at least 28 children by different wives, many of whom have living descendants. In 1887 the British annexed Zululand, effectively mediatising the Zulu dynasty as paramount chiefs in the region. The Zulu people and dynasty retained their distinct cultural identity and a measure of independence under the governments of South Africa through the establishment of Zululand as a bantustan and the subsequent abolition of apartheid in the Republic.
As paramount chief within the Republic of South Africa and pursuant to the preservation of African traditional leadership, the hereditary head of the Zulu dynasty retains kingly dignity, ethnic leadership, ritual authority and a civil list, reigning but not ruling in KwaZulu Natal in conjunction with the province’s UNdunankulu weSizwe samaZulu (chief ministers of Zulu nation). The dynasty is Christian and practices polygamy, agnates of the dynasty bearing the prefix “Prince/Princess” and the surname “Zulu”, while holding the rank of KaBhekuZulu, (i.e. prince of the Blood).
KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal.
The present head of the Zulu royal family is Misuzulu kaZwelithini. He was announced as the king on the day of the funeral of his mother, Queen Regent Mantfombi Dlamini, who died unexpectedly on 29 April 2021.
Dlamini was appointed as the interim leader of the Zulu Kingdom as the regent on 21 March 2021 after King Goodwill Zwelithini, the monarch of the Zulu nation of South Africa, died on 12 March 2021.
At the time of his death, Goodwill Zwelethini had six wives and 28 children. His heir Misuzulu has five children; two with his wife Queen Ntokozo, and one from his relationship with Princess Wesizwe Sigcau of the Mpondo people.