Princess for president

last updated 8 January 2015

Bujumbura, Burundi

An exiled Burundian princess turned fashion model said this week that she would run for president in this month’s election. Esther Kamatari, 53, was born into Burundi’s royal family but fled the country in 1970, shortly before the country’s last king was killed. She settled in France, where she worked for years as a model on Parisian runways. But in the past decade, as civil wars spread through Burundi, Kamatari was approached by a political party that advocates restoring the monarchy. “Burundi was a kingdom for 500 years,” she said. “If we return to a monarchy, maybe it’s possible to find peace.”