An official meeting between Cyril Ramaphosa and King Charles III, announced this week and scheduled for next month, seems an incongruous coming together of two fairly different men: one, after all, spent years being mentored as the heir of an iconic and beloved aristocrat before he ascended a throne teetering atop a pile of dubiously acquired wealth, while the other is King Charles III.

Still, Ramaphosa will feel faintly flattered that he has been chosen as the first foreign leader to be hosted at Buckingham Palace by the new king, even if it’s only because Charles wanted to pick the brains of someone with lots of experience of being a figurehead who’s not in charge of anything except smiling and waving...

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