Zulu royal family

South African aristocracy

The Zulu royal family, also known as the House of Zulu consists of the king of the Zulus, his consorts, and all of his legitimate descendants. The legitimate descendants of all previous kings are also sometimes considered to be members.

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini's great great great great grandfather, King Mpande, as a half brother of the Zulu King Shaka, reigned from 1840 to 1872. Shaka's policies and conquests transformed a small clan into one of South Africa's most influential pre colonial powers, extending over much of what is now KwaZulu Natal. The Nguni speaking clan of the southern Bantus, which evolved into the Zulu people, takes its name from the third of its recorded chiefs. Malandela, believed to have reigned in the early part of the sixteenth century, is the patrilineal ancestor of the present king, whose lineage comes down from him through Chief Senzangakhona to the latter's son, Shaka. He was announced as the king on the day of the funeral of his mother, Queen Regent Mantfombi Dlamini, who died unexpectedly on 29 April 2021. Dlamini was appointed as the interim leader of the Zulu Kingdom as the regent on 21 March 2021 after King Goodwill Zwelithini, the monarch of the Zulu nation of South Africa, died on 12 March 2021. At the time of his death, Goodwill Zwelethini had six wives and 28 children. His heir Misuzulu has six children; two with his wife Queen Ntokozo, and one from his relationship with Princess Wesizwe Sigcau of the Mpondo people.