Africa. South Africa. Basutoland (now Lesotho). Maseru. 1960. Sir Harold Macmillan, British Prime Minister (1957-1963) visiting South Africa in January/February 1960 where he delivered his ‘Winds of Change’ speech. Here the Prime Minister, with a member of the British colonial, diplomatic and consular officials staff wearing a uniform, greets local chiefs and the wives of white dignitaries.
Basutoland was a British Crown colony established in 1884 due to the Cape Colony's inability to control the territory. The colony was brought under direct authority of Queen Victoria, via the High Commissioner, and run by an Executive Council presided over by a series of British Resident Commissioners.. Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon its independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966.