King of Swaziland bans photography of his cars

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, February 21, 2005 8:54 AM |
Especiais Sadc Imagens Fotopr-Mswati Swaziland's King Mswati, the only absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, has issued a royal edict banning photos of his many luxury cars. In December he bought a $500,000 DaimlerChrysler Maybach 62, and BMWs all around for his 10 wives. He issued the edict after buying a more expensive car on Friday -- a stretch Mercedes S600 limousine -- in order to drive up to the newly opened parliament last week.
Mswati was forced to shelve plans three years ago to spend $45 million on a new royal jet, but has shown little inclination to rein in other royal spending projects which include a $15 million project to build individual new palaces for his growing retinue of wives.

[Swaziland, a] "tiny, impoverished kingdom, suffers frequent food shortages and one of the world's highest AIDS infection rates."


Link (Thanks, Mike!)
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