Prince of Wales meets Zulu royals to mark Battle of Rorke’s Drift anniversary

The Prince of Wales meets members of the Zulu ‘impi’ regiment during the 100th Royal Welsh Show Credit: PA

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall joined the King and Queen of the Zulus at the UK’s biggest agricultural show to mark the 140th anniversary of the Anglo Zulu War.

The royal meeting took place at the 100th Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, Powys, which Prince Charles was also visiting to mark his 50th anniversary as The Prince of Wales.

Charles, Camilla, King Goodwill Zwelithini and Queen Pumi were treated to a military display by members of a Zulu “impi” regiment dressed in traditional leopard skin uniform.

The prince remarked to the Zulu King: “You haven’t aged a bit” having last met during Charles’ tour in South Africa in November 2011.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall meet King Goodwill and Queen Pumi of the Zulu nation. Credit: PA

The Zulu royals were in Wales to mark 140th anniversary of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, where just over 150 Welsh soldiers held off 4,000 Zulu warriors from breaking British lines for 10 straight hours in South Africa.

Members of Rhayader & Dictrict Male Voice Choir sang a rendition of Men Of Harlech for the royals, which echoed the famous scenes in the 1964 film Zulu featuring a young Sir Michael Caine – which portrayed the Anglo Zulu War.

Gugu Ngcobo, who helped organise the Zulu visit, said she hoped the marking of the anniversary would lead to cooperation between the UK and her country, which she said was in “dire need” of help.

She said: “In the spirit of peace and development we are here because the King desired it most that we have to create cordial relations between these two kingdoms, and we must look beyond what happened 140 years ago and see what positive energies can come out of the experiences of the past.

“The King is here to say to the world ‘this is my kingdom, and my kingdom is in dire need of any kind of support and any kind of investors’.”

Prince Charles was later taken around the festival site where they a spoke with farmers, agricultural leaders, breeders, and representatives from the Prince’s Countryside Fund.

The Duchess was joined by Queen Pumi to meet representatives from the local Women’s Institute, Merched y Wawr, and Wales Young Farmers.