Pomp, ceremony and Haile Selassie's pet lions – the most memorable royal tours of Africa
Perhaps because he has three young children at home - or perhaps, as is officially the case, because he is travelling in his capacity as the president of the United for Wildlife conservation group - the Duke of Cambridge will be found flying across Africa in the next few days. Prince William is scheduled to visit Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya on a week-long “private working trip” (September 24-30), beginning today, which will act as a pre-cursor to the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference (in London; October 11-12).
Of course, this will not be the first visit to Africa by a member of the British royal family. Far from it. Indeed, this most fascinating of continents has played host to some of the House of Windsor's most evocative journeys in the last seven decades; odysseys which have carried them to Algiers in the north and Cape Town in the south; to Sierra Leone in the west, Kenya and Tanzania in the east. And almost everywhere in between.
Is it possible to follow in these regal footsteps? Certainly. Is it feasible to do so without all the pomp and ceremony? Thank goodness, yes. The following list is a considerable way from being exhaustive, but every state visit mentioned below caught the lens in its particular moment.
Princess Elizabeth in Kenya
When: January 31-February 6 1952
The most famous of Elizabeth II's visits to Kenya may be the much-documented week in the first flushes of 1952 where she travelled to Africa as a princess, and returned a queen. This was not an official state visit - she was standing in for her father on a trip which was supposed to venture onwards to New Zealand and Australia. But while she and the Duke of Edinburgh were staying in Aberdare National Park - watching elephants, and sleeping at its Treetops Hotel - news broke that George VI had died on the night of February 5-6. Plans to continue Down Under were immediately shelved.
Do it yourself: Treetops Hotel burned down in 1954 but its successor Treetops Lodge is a 50-room oasis. It features in “Grand Safari Kenya” - a 10-day group tour sold by Titan (0808 273 1060; titantravel.co.uk). From £2,699 a head in March - with flights.
Elizabeth II in Uganda
When: April 28-30 1954
Not so much a single state visit as one of the closing chapters of a great epic. From November 1953 to May 1954, the Queen undertook a colossal journey in celebration of her new reign. In seven months away, she would circumnavigate the planet, heading west to the Caribbean, and through the Panama Canal, slipping across the South Pacific, and halting in New Zealand and Australia, before turning for home via Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Uganda was one of the last legs on the tour - a foray into Africa which was preceded by a day in Aden (now Yemen), and followed by a stop in Libya.
Do it yourself: Uganda's gorilla population is the prime reason to visit this East African country of forests and foliage. Steppes Travel (01258 787 512; steppestravel.com) sells a six-day “Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Flying Safari” which closely encounters these remarkable primates. From £3,445 per person, including international flights via Kenya.
Elizabeth II in Sierra Leone
When: November 25-December 1 1961
One of the - perhaps - forgotten facets of our current monarch’s long reign is that she was briefly Queen of Sierra Leone. She held the role between 1961 and 1971 - starting from the April of the former, when the onetime British colony on the west coast of Africa joined the Commonwealth as a new and independent nation, and ending in the April of the latter, when the country became a republic. The visit came at the start of this period, the queen arriving with the Duke of Edinburgh on the Royal Yacht Britannia (Queen Elizabeth II Quay in the capital Freetown in so-named as a result). The ship would continue north-west, with the royal couple also stopping in The Gambia - having arrived in Sierra Leone via Ghana (where she danced with President Nkrumah in Accra - a moment retold in the recent Netflix drama The Crown) and Liberia.
Do it yourself: Sierra Leone was the scene of a brutal civil war between 1991 and 2002, and remains an off-beat option for travels. Visits are, though, possible. Rainbow Tours (0203 131 5292; rainbowtours.co.uk), for example, sells a “Sierra Leone Beach and Heritage Holiday” which combines Freetown and the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary with some of the world’s least touched beaches. From £2,295 per person, including international flights.
Elizabeth II in Ethiopia
When: February 1-8 1965
Though it occurred little more than 50 years ago, the Queen’s visit to Ethiopia was an excursion into an era that has now faded from view. She was met in Addis Ababa by Haile Selassie - Ethiopia’s charismatic emperor, who had forged a close connection with Britain during the Second World War, living in exile in Bath for five years (1936-1941) while his country was under Italian occupation. His guest was given the full pomp-and-circumstance treatment. The Queen was driven through the capital in a coach pulled by six white horses, and hosted at an evening banquet at the imperial palace - where Selassie kept “pet” lions in the gardens. This was a vision of flamboyance that would not endure. He was deposed in a military coup in 1974, and there are still suspicions that his death in August 1975 was not of natural causes. His image has, however, been (relatively) rehabilitated in the country he ruled with such swagger. His bedroom is preserved - although his palace is now the Ethnological Museum. He also has a tomb, in Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, which is as impressive as it was late - he would not be buried here until November 2000. His bones were initially dumped without ceremony under a paving stone in the palace grounds.
Do it yourself: Abercrombie & Kent (01242 386 461; abercrombiekent.co.uk) sells a 10-night “Classic Ethiopia” package which spends two days in Addis Ababa - visiting the former royal palace, as well the rock churches of Lalibela. From £5,785 a head, including international flights.
Elizabeth II in Sudan
When: February 8-12 1965
The week after her visit to Ethiopia, the Queen pushed into an even less understood corner of Africa. Sudan is scarcely a mainstream travel destination in 2018 - and it was no more on the beaten path in 1965, when Elizabeth II arrived in Khartoum to large crowds and an enthusiastic welcome. She would enjoy an afternoon of horse-racing at the capital's race course, before flying south-east to Ad-Damazin to look at the construction of the Roseires Dam on the Blue Nile.
Do it yourself: While certainly a niche option for a holiday, Sudan is also, slowly, growing in travel profile. Most tours spend time in Khartoum - although the key focus tends to be the ancient pyramids at sites such as Meroe and El Kurru. Cox & Kings (020 3918 4465; coxandkings.co.uk) sells an 11-day "Treasures of Ancient Nubia" break which visits both said historic enclaves - from £2,975, with international flights.
Elizabeth II in Algeria
When: October 25–27 1980
Algeria rarely features on British travel radars - and, indeed, this short stop-off in Algiers almost 40 years ago remains the Queen’s sole trip to the North African country in her near-seven decade reign. It was not a particularly happy visit. She spent much of her time in the capital, at sites such as the Mustapha Hospital, speaking to survivors of the El Asnam earthquake - which had wracked the country on October 10 (as the largest recorded tremor in the Atlas mountains since 1790). Her three days in what is Africa’s biggest country were part of a wider progress through the region - preceded by a short spell in Tunisia, and followed by half a week in Morocco which ticked off the famous citadels of Marrakech and Casablanca, as well as the capital Rabat.
Do it yourself: Algeria is barely better known by British visitors in 2018 - but is far from inaccessible. Responsible Travel (01273 823 700; responsibletravel.com) runs a regular group tour of the country which dissects it over 12 days - delving into Saharan sands at the oasis town of Taghit, as well as checking in on the capital. From £2,699 per person; international flights extra.
The Prince of Wales in Botswana
When: March 25-29 1984
Prince Charles has also been a regular presence on African soil. He spent 11 days on the continent in 1984 in his role as a director of the Commonwealth Development Corporation (now the CDC Group) - which was set up in 1948 to assist former British colonies in the improvement of agricultural production. Charles visited Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana - and made the biggest headlines in the latter when, at the end of his official duties, the prince himself was the pilot of the twin-engine aircraft which carried him north-west for a holiday at Chobe Game Lodge.
Do it yourself: Set on the banks of the River Chobe, near Kasane, Chobe Game Lodge has also welcomed royalty of the Hollywood kind - Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton married here (their short-lived second attempt at wedded bliss) in October 1975. It is part of the portfolio of properties offered by Expert Africa (0203 405 6666; expertafrica.com). The company also sells a nine-day “Black-Backed Jackal Safari”, which focuses on Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta. From £4,070 per person, including international flights from Heathrow.
The Prince of Wales in Swaziland
When: March 27 - April 2 1987
A moment of clarification is required here because, while this small land-locked nation - which sits wedged between South Africa and Mozambique - used its more recognisable name when Charles was its guest, it has recently assumed a new identity. As of April this year, it is known as the Kingdom of Eswatini. The prince has, in fact, made two journeys across its landscape. A return trip in 1997 - part of a wider itinerary which also ticked off Lesotho and South Africa - followed his first tour, in 1987 - which was again part of his work for the Commonwealth Development Corporation.
Do it yourself: Home to mountains, grasslands and rainforest, Swaziland/Eswatini belies is small size to be a place of remarkable geographical diversity. Explore (01252 883 621; explore.co.uk) runs a regular “The Kingdom of Swaziland” group trip which takes eight days to investigate its subject - glimpsing the likes of Malolotja Falls and Mkhaya Game Reserve. From £1,585 per person, including international flights.
The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex in Lesotho
When: June 15-19 2010
Princes William and Harry embarked on a joint visit to Africa in 2010 which saw them attend the (notoriously dull) fixture between England and Algeria at that summer’s football World Cup in South Africa (the match, a 0-0 draw, took place in Cape Town on June 18). They had visited Botswana en route on behalf of wildlife protection group the Tusk Trust - and would head onwards to Lesotho. Here, they visited projects supported by Sentebale - the charity, co-founded by Prince Harry, which works to help children and orphans in the country.
Do it yourself: Lesotho is a mountainous enclave that, though framed entirely by South Africa, is one of the continent’s least known places. Exodus Travels (020 3811 3091; exodus.co.uk) covers it on its 22-day “Johannesburg to Cape Town” group trip; from £3,199 per person; international flights extra.
The Duke of Cambridge in Namibia
When: September 24-30 2018
William’s latest tour will also have a conservation edge, taking him to Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya in his role as patron of the Tusk Trust (as well as on behalf of United for Wildlife).
Do it yourself: Namibia has clicked into travel focus in the last decade - a photogenic playground which thrusts a desert shoulder into the Atlantic Ocean, holds close the ghosts of shipwrecks past on the stark Skeleton Coast - and revels in rhinos and leopards in Etosha National Park. Timbuktu Travel (timbuktutravel.com) suggests a range of routes through the country - including a nine-night “Classic Namibia by Plane” tour that costs from around £2,700 a head (international flights extra).
