King Sobhuza came to the throne at the age of three months in December 1899 (at the beginning of the Second Anglo-Boer War) and ruled for 82 years and nine months until his death in 1982. Although his grandmother acted as regent until he was 21 years old, his is the longest precisely-dated monarchical reign on record. He was a much-revered leader of his people and a lynchpin in his extended family. He married 70 wives and fathered 210 children during his lifetime. At the time of his death he had more than 1 000 grandchildren and 97 of his sons and daughters were still alive at the turn of the 21st century. On his death there was further period of regency by Queen Dzeliwe and then Queen Ntombi (Sobhuza’s successor’s mother), before he was succeeded by his son King Mswati III. In all such cases, in terms of Swazi tradition, the Regent is always a Queen. The Queen Mother is a very powerful figure in Swaziland. Known as the Indlovukati (or Great She-Elephant) she co-rules with her son, where she takes responsibility for the nation’s spiritual well-being while the King takes care of the admin.