Meet The Royal Families Of Africa

In addition to being a reigning monarch, King Letsie III has a family to which he must attend. Letsie is one of the royals to marry a commoner, and has been married to his wife, Queen ‘Masenate Seeiso, since 2000. The couple has three royal children together. In 2007, the queen gave birth to their youngest, Lerotholi, who is positioned to succeed his father as king as he is the first male to be born to the king and queen. Letsie and ‘Masenate have two older daughters, their first-born, Princess Senate Seeiso, and their second-born, Princess ‘Maseeiso Seeiso. In 2014, Queen ‘Masenate shared that she would have liked to have had more children, but she decided that because of her age, she would be stopping with three to avoid potential health risks associated with geriatric pregnancy.

Like other royal children across the world, Princess Senate and Princess ‘Maseeiso are public figures in their country. Like her father, Princess Senate has become a champion of various human rights issues affecting Lesotho. While her father champions the end of childhood hunger, Princess Senate champions the end of child marriage. In a 2018 speech, Princess Senate said, “To my fellow age mates, marriage is not meant for us as children. I, therefore, wish to appeal to you to give priority to education in order to achieve a fruitful and healthy adulthood.” She added, “Our primary interest should be to strive for a bright future, a future that is full of potential and aspirations.”