| Main Performers | Sibongile Khumalo,
Hugh Masekela,
Tony Bennett,
Bayete [Jabu Khanyile],
Phil Collins |
| Orchestra or Band | The Phil Collins Big Band and Guests |
| Choirs | Ladysmith Black Mambazo,
Soshanguve Black Tycoons,
Black Voices |
| Set List | 'God Save the Queen' (The National Anthem),
'South African National Anthem' |
| Royal Presence | HM Queen Elizabeth II,
HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh,
HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales,
HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York,
HRH The Duke of Gloucester,
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester,
HRH The Duchess of Kent,
HRH Princess Alexandra,
Hon. Sir Angus Ogilvy |
| Performance Notes | Nelson Mandela visited the Hall once in his lifetime on 11 July 1996, during a four day state visit by the then President of South Africa as a guest of Her Majesty The Queen. In order to repay her hospitality, instead of the usual state dinner he chose to entertain her with an evening of music and dance entitled 'Two Nations Celebrate'.
The visit to the Hall started in typical Mandela fashion, with the great man doing a walkabout, meeting and greeting a great many staff with his customary warmth. Her Majesty, Prince Charles, Mandela and his daughter Zenani Mandela-Dlamini then adjourned to the Queens' Box to watch an evening of performances by South African artists Bayete, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Hugh Masekela, also featuring Phil Collins, Quincy Jones and Tony Bennett. Poet Benjamin Zephaniah hosted the evening at the request of Nelson Mandela. Zenani began to sway with the music, soon joined by her father and the Prince of Wales, an unusual sight in the normally sedate Royal Box. Mandela had abandoned his preferred bright shirt for a formal black silk one for the occasion.
"Thursday night, as he repaid the Queen's hospitality with a party of music and dance at the Royal Albert Hall, which he referred to as "this big round building," he had the Queen and Prince Charles on their feet. Mr. Mandela, dressed in a black silk shirt, and the Prince of Wales were swaying and clapping to the music, joined by the Queen, 'who has seldom been known to boogie in public,' according to this morning's Daily Telegraph"
(New York Times, 13 July 1996).
The event was recorded and produced by Harvey Goldsmith, Michele Hockley and Edward Simons, and broadcast on television on 13 July 1996.
Guests in the Royal Box included Nelson Mandela and his daughter Zenani Mandela-Dlamini, David Brink (Chairman of The Nations Trust) and his wife Marilyn, Angus Ogilvy (South Africa's High Commissioner in the UK), Mendi Msimang (South African High Commissioner) and his wife Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (Deputy Minister of Justice), and Tom Shebbeare (Director of Charities to HRH The Prince of Wales). |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1996/46),
State Visit Ceremonial Programme (RAHE/1/1996/46A),
Digital Photographs,
Video (11 July 1996) |