HARARE – Relations between Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom are frayed, but the former colonial power’s Royal Family still elicits unlikely warmth in Harare.
Following an announcement by Buckingham Palace on Thursday that doctors were concerned for Queen Elizabeth II’s health, a spokesman for Zimbabwe’s presidency tweeted: “Our thoughts are with her; a gracious soul.”
George Charamba, travelling from Rwanda with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, told ZimLive that they had no political quarrel with the 96-year-old whose only visit to the country came in 1991 for a Commonwealth Heads of Government (Chogm) meeting.
Britain and the rest of the European Union imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2000 following violent seizures of white-owned farms and accusations of rights abuses by the Zanu PF government. There has been no thawing since, with Zimbabwe’s leaders claiming the former colonial power wants regime change in Harare.
“The Queen and members of the Royal Family have retained very warm, apolitical relations with the president and his government, as is appropriate to royalty of course,” Charamba said.
Queen Elizabeth II is under medical supervision at her summer residence in Scotland after doctors raised concerns about the monarch’s health, Buckingham Palace said, as members of the royal family rushed to be at her side.
The announcement by the palace came a day after the Queen cancelled a virtual meeting of her Privy Council when doctors advised her to rest following a full day of events on Tuesday, when she formally asked Liz Truss to become Britain’s prime minister.
“Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision,” a palace spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with customary policy. “The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
The palace declined to provide further details about the Queen’s condition, but there were worrying signs that it might be serious. A Cabinet minister interrupted Truss during a debate in the House of Commons to inform her about Elizabeth’s condition and family members cancelled long-planned engagements to travel to the Highlands.
Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, along with his wife, Camilla, and sister, Princess Anne, were with the queen at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland. Other members of the royal family, including Charles’ sons, Princes William and Harry, were said to be en route.
The gathering of the House of Windsor came just three months after people across Britain paused over a long holiday weekend to celebrate the queen’s 70 years on the throne. While crowds of cheering, flag-waving fans filled the streets around Buckingham Palace throughout four days of festivities, the queen herself made only two brief appearances on the palace balcony to wave to her subjects.
Elizabeth has increasingly handed over duties to Charles and other members of the royal family in recent months as she recovered from a bout of Covid-19, began using a cane and struggled to get around.
Since assuming the throne after the death of her father on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth has been a symbol of stability as Britain negotiated the end of empire, the dawn of the information age and the mass migration that transformed the country into a multicultural society.
That steadfastness was seen Tuesday when she oversaw the handover of power from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Truss in a series of carefully choreographed events steeped in the traditions of Britain’s 1,000-year-old monarchy.
Throughout her tenure, the queen has also built a bond with the people of Great Britain through a seemingly endless series of public appearances as she opened libraries, dedicated hospitals and bestowed honours on deserving citizens.
“I have no knowledge of precisely her health condition, but I get the feeling, somehow, we might be being prepared for something,” Deborah Langton, 67, a semi-retired translator, said outside Buckingham Palace. “And if that is, you know, the end, then that’s going to be very sad, I think, for a lot of people.”
(Additional reporting Associated Press)
