PMB woman cherishes letter from monarch

NOBUNTU Mkhize, the daughter of the late journalist Khaba Mkhize, has kept a replying letter from Queen Elizabeth safe for almost three decades.

Mkhize, 41, of Imbali in Pietermaritzburg, wrote to the queen in 1995, and asked her father to pass it on to her when he was invited to have tea at Buckingham Palace.

Mkhize sr was invited by the monarch for his influence and as a respected journalist, who aimed to bring about peace between the IFP and ANC pre-democracy.

Aged 13 at the time, Mkhize said it was her late mother Kwenzi who encouraged her to write to the queen.

“At that time, I was just a little black girl from the township, and I did not even know who she (the queen) was. I remember my dad saying: ‘Just write a letter to her. She is the most important woman in the world, and one day you will understand who she is.’ I'm thankful to my father, and he was right because as I grew older, I fell in love with the royal family,” she said.

Mkhize said political violence was the most talked about topic at the time and there were fears, particularly in the township, so her mother had advised her to write about it.

“In my letter, I asked the queen to help us end the violence at the time; that was my concern as a little girl at the time,” she said.

Her father handed over the letter to the queen and a week later after he had returned from London, he was surprised when her mother came home from work with a letter that was delivered by the royal family via airmail.

In the letter, dated March 16, 1995, Buckingham Palace informed Mkhize that the queen had appreciated her kind letter and hoped to meet her in a week when the queen was scheduled to come to South Africa.

Mkhize said her letter has been her most precious item to this day and had kept it safe over the years.

When the queen died last week, Mkhize posted the letter on her social media platforms as her fond memory.

She said she attempted to auction the letter in Johannesburg 10 years ago. However, when the auctioneers realised it was legitimate she was advised not to sell it at the time. She said she would consider auctioning it in the future.