The Sunday Mail
YESTERDAY’S coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, and also independently king of 14 other sovereign countries, was largely symbolic since he became king with full powers soon after the death of his mother.
But it was still a very powerful symbol and confirmation of a new era.
The pageantry was changed at the instigation of the king himself, using centuries-old elements, plus some far more modern concepts, starting with the critical element — the Coronation Oath — which had remained unchanged for over a century since his great-grandfather, George V, refused to gratuitously insult his Catholic subjects.
While remaining a Protestant Christian king, King Charles III also managed to make clear that the UK is a multi-faith and multi-cultural country, and that there are no second-class citizens, let alone second-class faiths. This is a good start, building on what Queen Elizabeth II had already done.
The service also stressed the role of the people, rather than that of the aristocrats.
However, for Zimbabwe, the major factor was the open invitation to President Mnangagwa, the first time since sanctions were imposed by Britain that a Zimbabwean Head of State was voluntarily invited to Britain. President Mnangagwa was invited and attended COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, but, to a large degree, he was entitled to attend this international climate conference since Zimbabwe was in good standing as one of the parties to the climate treaties.
Although these global summits in Britain are not covered by the formal rules that mean the US government must admit any Head of State or government of a UN member to the UN headquarters, it would be a diplomatic rumpus not to follow a similar procedure. The coronation had no such element of entitlement for attendance by a foreign Head of State, at least of a non-Commonwealth member. The British could simply have declined to issue an invitation without any diplomatic ruckus.
The only foreigners with a total entitlement would have been the heads of government of the other 14 countries that acknowledge Charles III as their king, and, for all practical purposes, the rest of the Commonwealth, since King Charles is recognised as Head of the Commonwealth.
But the British took the positive decision to invite President Mnangagwa, and that must be seen for what it is — an acceleration in the normalisation of relations between Britain and Zimbabwe.
The President, in fact, has reported that when the British Ambassador presented the invitation, he did bring up the issue of whether he could attend because of sanctions that banned him from visiting Britain.
He was, however, told that those were no longer in place. Since President Mnangagwa regards every foreign visit as an opportunity to open doors and do some hard work, he was obviously not just going to watch King Charles III being crowned.
He took along Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Frederick Shava to help carry the load of formal and informal diplomatic contact, which is important since so many countries were represented by their leaders or at least a minister at the coronation.
But he also took Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube to do some heavy lifting on the economic front, which is important as doors are now opening in what is still the world’s fifth-largest economy.
On the diplomatic side, besides a meeting with the number two in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, there was another of those symbolic occasions, when President Mnangagwa met Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister when the Britain-Zimbabwe row exploded, and who expended a fair amount of diplomatic capital in getting others to agree to sanctions.
President Mnangagwa always meets everyone whom he hopes might change their mind, or where he can cement a mind change, and does not just talk to Zimbabwe’s all-weather friends, although he does keep strong friendships very active.
Although Mr Blair is long retired from active politics, he still has influential friends and people he talks to, so, if he sees normalisation as something that is happening, it is another sign that change is in the air. More importantly, President Mnangagwa had a meeting with British-based investors.
Some of these, as is common wherever he goes, are Zimbabweans in the diaspora, who have “made good”, are interested in investing back home, or at least in the “old country” if they have taken a new citizenship, and just want to add what the President thinks to what they already know from relatives and friends.
But interestingly, this time, there was a contingent of British businesspeople who have no Zimbabwean ties. The sanctions have seen reluctance by British, American and European businesspeople to commit to Zimbabwean investment, partly because banking sanctions make this harder.
For most practical purposes, relations with EU members are now normal and their businesses are starting to at least consider new investment. British businesspeople must be thinking about doing the same.
But we now have some prepared to go a lot further than just looking anonymously, and have no problem about meeting
President Mnangagwa and Minister Ncube at a semi-public event and talking turkey.
They wanted answers and reassurances, and went to the source. This is a serious sign of the increasing and welcome normality the President has been pushing throughout his first term.
So, in some ways, the coronation of Britain’s new king is also another milestone in Zimbabwe’s engagement and re-engagement drive, and the opening of a new and normal era in Zimbabwe-Britain relations.
