Ruth Williams Khama
| Ruth Williams Khama | |
|---|---|
| First Lady of Botswana | |
|
In office 30 September 1966 – 13 July 1980 |
|
| President | Seretse Khama |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Gladys Olebile Masire |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Ruth Williams 9 December 1923 Blackheath, London |
| Died | 22 May 2002 (aged 78) Gaborone, Botswana |
| Resting place | Royal Cemetery, Serowe, Botswana |
| Political party | Botswana Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Seretse Khama (1948–1980; his death) |
| Children |
Jacqueline Khama Ian Khama Tshekedi Khama II Anthony Khama |
Ruth Williams Khama, Lady Khama (9 December 1923 – 22 May 2002) was the wife of Botswana's first president Sir Seretse Khama, the Paramount Chief of its Bamangwato tribe. She served as the inaugural First Lady of Botswana from 1966 to 1980.
Lady Khama was born Ruth Williams in Meadowcourt Road, Eltham in south London. She was the daughter of George and Dorothy Williams. Her father had served as a captain in the British Army in India, and later worked in the tea trade. She had a sister, Muriel Williams-Sanderson, with whom she remained very close.
She was educated at Eltham Hill Grammar School and then served as a WAAF ambulance driver at various airfields in the south of England during the Second World War. After the war, she worked as a clerk for Cuthbert Heath, a firm of underwriters at Lloyd's of London.
In June 1947, at a dance at Nutford House organised by the London Missionary Society, her sister introduced her to the then Prince Seretse Khama. He was the son of the paramount chief Sekgoma II of the Bamangwato people, and was studying law at Inner Temple in London after a year at Balliol College, Oxford. The couple were both fans of jazz music, particularly The Ink Spots, and quickly fell in love. Their plans to marry caused controversy both with the apartheid government of South Africa and the tribal elders in Bechuanaland.
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