In 1941, Irene Drusilla Namaganda, the reigning queen mother of British-occupied Buganda, shocked the kingdom when she revealed she was six months pregnant—only fifteen months after the king’s death. The father of her child, a schoolteacher nearly two decades her junior, quickly became the focal point for a scandal that engulfed the monarchy. The ensuing political crisis led to Namaganda’s removal from the office of queen mother (Nnamasole) and her companion’s exile, spurring her own departure.
Drawing from extensive archival research and in-depth oral interviews, this long-awaited biography analyzes Namaganda’s roles as wife, mother, widow, and prominent yet controversial cultural-political icon. Scholar Nakanyike Musisi moves beyond the scandal to explore how the monarch’s character and personal choices defied expectations of royal women and redefined motherhood, power, and tradition. She challenges dominant narratives in African political history and gender studies to show how African women navigated competing systems of authority and in doing so reshaped both the institution of monarchy and broader cultural and historical landscapes.