Swedish King jets in for historic state visit

The last time King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife, Queen Silvia were in Botswana was 1976 for their honeymoon when they stayed in a safari lodge on the outskirts of the Chobe National Park. This time around, the King will not be accompanied by the Queen, who took ill in Paris on her way to Botswana and has since returned to Sweden.

Yesterday, Swedish diplomats said the significance of the King's visit could be read in the fact that the royals conduct three to four outward state visits per year and usually group countries into regions. This time around, the King and his entourage will only visit Botswana, their first visit to the African continent in more than two years.