CONFIDENTIAL
consistently supported Mr. Nkomo's party, by inviting only Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia from Eastern Europe. He also personally invited a number of Heads of State to attend the ceremony, including Mr. Fraser, Mr. Manley, Mrs. Gandhi and the leaders of the Front Line States. The task of passing on the invitations (and of keeping down the size of delegations) fell to British missions throughout the world. Presidents Nyerere, Dos Santos and Machel did not attend in person, for reasons which were never entirely clear. Presidents Kaunda and Khama were therefore the only "front line " Heads of State present. The South Africans, who were not invited, felt affronted. They were further irritated, by the invitations to the two South African liberation movements, the ANC and the PAC, but after an intervention by the Governor it was the party, not the Government, which acted as host to these and other liberation movements.
3. The Zimbabweans themselves were particularly pleased by the Prince of Wales attendance. From the moment of his arrival at Salisbury Airport on the morning of 16 April the Prince was warmly greeted wherever he went on his very full programme. This included a visit to an African township outside Salisbury and a flying visit to Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. At the Independence ceremony, President Banana took up a phrase from the Prince's speech in expressing the hope that the Prince would not long delay in fulfilling his promise to return to Zimbabwe.
4. The Governor held a reception on 16 April in the presence of the Prince of Wales which was attended by members of the Zimbabwe Government and local dignitaries; and a second such reception for heads of visiting delegations on 17 April. Later on 17 April President Banana held a state banquet at Meikles Hotel for heads of delegations before the midnight Independence ceremony at Rufaro Stadium.
5. Entrance to the stadium was by invitation only and people had started to arrive as early as 6.0 p.m. to witness the birth of an independent Zimbabwe. The crowd was entertained by a wide variety of performers. Enthusiasm in the stadium was temporarily reduced when tear gas had to be used outside the enclosure: a large crowd had flattened a retaining fence in their excitement and threatened to swamp the stadium. The tear gas spread throughout the stadium, affecting most of the invited guests more or less severely. A number of VIPs spent an uncomfortable ten minutes until the gas dispersed. The international press corps also tried to spread over the centre of the field and had to be corralled into place. However, all was in order once the formal Independence ceremony began.
6. The ceremony itself was a great success. The combined guard of honour, comprising units of the Army, Air Force and Police and of ZANLA and ZIPRA, held together under its White commander and stood as a testimony to the spirit of wary co-operation between former enemies. Their combined drill and marching was a truly moving sight, and a tribute to the British soldiers who had schooled them in the preceding weeks. But ZANLA were the heroes of the crowd and drew the most heartfelt cheers. Storms of applause broke out as the Union Flag was lowered on the stroke of midnight by a British Regimental Sergeant-Major, and as the new Zimbabwean Flag was raised, and a 21-gun salute fired.
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7. After the swearing in of President Banana and Mr. Mugabe, the Prince of Wales made a short speech in which he passed on Her Majesty the Queen's best wishes to the people of Zimbabwe; his use of the Shona word "Kuzitonga (independence) was much appreciated by the crowd. You spoke next and emphasised that the great day would not have been possible without the deter-
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