In June 1947, at a dance at
Nutford House organised by the
London Missionary Society, her sister introduced her to
Prince Seretse Khama. He was the son of the
Kgosi (a
Bamangwato title equivalent to "king", though the British government prefers "paramount chief"),
Sekgoma II, of the Bamangwato people and was studying law at
Inner Temple in London after a year at
Balliol College, Oxford. The couple were both fans of jazz music, particularly
The Ink Spots, and quickly fell in love.
Seretse Khama was the first black man she had ever spoken to. Their plans to marry caused controversy with elders in
Bechuanaland and the government of South Africa, which had recently instituted the system of racial segregation known as
apartheid. Britain was developing an atomic bomb which was felt necessary to maintain Britain's claim to be a great power and it was felt crucial that the supplies of
uranium come from within the Commonwealth; South Africa happened to be endowed with much uranium which could be mined cheaply via
open pit mining out on the
veld by black South African miners who were paid wages considerably lower than the white miners. Uranium could also be obtained elsewhere in the Commonwealth such as from Canada, but the Canadian uranium was mined via deep shaft mining in the far north by well paid miners, making the Canadian uranium far more expensive than the South African uranium. Thus for reasons of cost, the British government much preferred to buy South African uranium for its atomic bomb programme. The South African government made it very clear that its willingness to supply uranium for the British nuclear programme was contingent upon stopping the marriage. The British government intervened to stop the marriage. Both Ruth and Seretse were Anglicans who wanted to be married within the Church of England, but neither could find a priest willing to marry them. The marriage attracted much media attention as the Canadian journalist
Mackenzie Porter wrote in 1952: "The Press treated their marriage as front-page news. Here, flouting all the dangers he knew to be implicit in [inter-racial marriage], was the scion of the ancient and illustrious House of Khama ... And here, seeking to be an African queen, was an English working girl who had been reared to expect nothing more exotic than a semi-detached house in one of London's great dormitories and a husband who every morning would don his bowler hat, seize his umbrella and catch a red double-decker bus to the city." During this time, a reconciliation with Ruth's father took place, as he accepted her decision to marry a black man. Ruth joined Seretse in England, with the married couple living as exiles from 1951 in
Croydon.
Winston Churchill, as the leader of the Official Opposition, had criticised the ban on Seretse Khama placed by the Attlee government, calling it "a very disreputable transaction". However, when he won the 1951 election, Churchill would decide to have the ban be permanently enforced, claiming that Seretse's return would be a danger to public order. Despite his claims, riots broke out in Bechuanaland when it was learned that the Khamas would not be permitted to return. In a vote in the House of Commons in 1951, 308 MPs voted to keep the Khamas exiled while 286 MPs voted to allow them to return. Notably, Prime Minister Churchill (who championed Khamas' cause as the leader of the opposition) said nothing during the vote. During his exile, Prince Seretse suffered from bouts of depression and, in 1952, Ruth told Porter that "Sometimes he just sits in front of the fire warming his hands and brooding. He suffers from lumbago because of the climate. Much as I love him—more than the day we were married—I cannot move him when he gets into one of his black moods. There is absolutely nothing that will snap him out of it."
Return to Bechuanaland Popular support and protest continued in Bechuanaland. The couple were permitted to return in 1956 after the Bamangwato people sent a telegram to
Queen Elizabeth II. Seretse renounced his throne and became a cattle farmer in
Serowe. He founded the nationalist
Bechuanaland Democratic Party and won the
1965 general election. As
prime minister of Bechuanaland, he pushed for independence, which was granted in 1966. Seretse Khama became the first
president of independent Botswana and he became a
Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Lady Khama was an influential, politically active
First Lady during her husband's four consecutive terms as president from 1966 to 1980. == Family ==