In what would go down as the wedding of the millennium, His Majesty the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II wed Lady Sylvia Nagginda in a grand ceremony presided over by then-Archbishop Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo on August 27, 1999 at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Uganda’s capital Kampala.
But, how did the royals meet?
A couple of decades ago now, there was an envoy dispatched to find the young King a suitable wife. James Mulwana (late) and Dr. William Kalema brought several young women to meet him, but he declined each of one them.
As fate would have it, during a trip to the United Kingdom the king spotted the beautiful Sylvia during a game with the royal delegation.
The King told the Katikiro (Prime Minister) that she was the one and that she was to be invited to breakfast with them, so that he could get to know her better. She had however just returned home to the UK, after visiting her country home Uganda. She explained that she could lose her job if she returned to Uganda so quickly. But you know how insistent and persuasive Kings can be. He asked if they could meet for just two hours. So, back to Uganda she went.
The King hadn’t really made his intentions clear to her which made her curious. She phoned the Prime Minister who convinced her that whatever it was, it had to be good news.
Once on the ground, Sylvia was accompanied by her father and some other relatives to the royal palace in Banda to meet with the King. It was only then that the Prime Minister announced to everyone, on behalf of the King, that Sylvia was the woman he intended to make his Queen.
The committee to organize the wedding was then off and running, headed by the Prime Minister himself and the couple was wed on August 27, 1999.