BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- “The King visited my wife in her final weeks.”
These words were said by Eswatini-born award winning actor Richard E. Grant, who is now based in the United Kingdom.
The internationally renowned actor who has starred in Star Wars ‘Rise of Skywalker’ expressed his warm feelings towards the newly-appointed King Charles III yesterday on his Instagram page, while sharing their light-hearted picture together.
Worth noting is that the late King’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was had a state funeral yesterday, the same day Grant put up the sentimental post.
“Will never forget the kindness of the King, who visited my wife in her final weeks, empathetic, philosophical, compassionate and kind. My heart goes out to him for the incalculable loss of his beloved mother,” said Grant (sic).
Grant’s wife of 35 years, Joan Washington, passed on September 3, 2021 after an illness.
According to Wikipedia, Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen was 5 May 1957 in Mbabane, Protectorate of Swaziland (now Eswatini). He is the son of Leonne and Henrik Esterhuysen- Henrik was head of education for the British government administration in the British protectorate of Swaziland. He has English, Dutch/Afrikaner, and German ancestry. He has a younger brother, Stuart, an accountant in Johannesburg, from whom he is estranged; Grant has stated that they ‘never had any relationship’.
As a boy, Grant went to primary school at St Mark’s, a local government school in Mbabane that only recently had become racially integrated. When Grant was 10 years, he witnessed his mother commit adultery in a car with his father’s best friend, which subsequently led to his parents’ divorce. This event inspired Grant to keep a daily diary, which he has continued to do ever since.
Grant attended secondary school at Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa, an independent school near Mbabane. He then studied English and drama at the University of Cape Town. He adopted his stage name when he moved to Britain as an adult and registered with equity.
He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I (1987).
