Rwanda’s new king lives on a council estate in Manchester An exiled prince who lives on a council estate in Manchester has been declared the king of Rwanda after the […]

An exiled prince who lives on a council estate in Manchester has been declared the king of Rwanda after the previous monarch died penniless in the US.

Former Pepsi employee Emmanuel Bushayija, 56, will assume the throne as King Yuhi VI according to an official edict by the late king’s chief courtier.

Father-of-two Mr Bushayija, who has lived in Britain since 2000, runs a security business from his housing association-owned home on the town of Sale.

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The Rwandan Royal Council of Abiru hereby informs all Rwandans and friends of Rwanda that in keeping with the ancient custom, it has acclaimed His Royal Highness Prince Emmanuel Bushayija as the successor of his late majesty. Edict from the Royal Council of Abiru

He has become first Briton to be declared a king since the death of George VI in 1952.

The previous king, his uncle Kigeli V, died in poverty in the US, according to reports that said he was living off food stamps and without any children.

The royal edict said: “The Rwandan Royal Council of Abiru hereby informs all Rwandans and friends of Rwanda that in keeping with the ancient custom, it has acclaimed His Royal Highness Prince Emmanuel Bushayija as the successor of his late majesty.”

Mr Bushayija was not at home today and a woman who answered the door of his town house in a cul-de-sac, which had a bicycle in the front garden, did not want to comment.

But neighbours have spoken of their shock at living in the presence of a king.

Dola Tope-Agboola, 43, told i: “Are you serious? Who would have known a king was my neighbour. I know what a king is in Africa. Goodness me. This is amazing. My children will be very excited when I tell them. I will look out for him. I will have to get to know my neighbours more.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyLisygJh-M

Wendy Otoo, 50, described Mr Bushayija as “a lovely man” and revealed how he had told her partner about his royal blood over drinks.

She told i: “He’s a good man and it’s fantastic news. You wouldn’t think he was a king. He goes out of his way to speak to you. He’s very good with children. He lets them all play in his garden.

”He had spoken to my partner about it when they were having a drink. My family is from Ghana and my uncle who died was a king.“

‘A king on a council estate’

Another neighbour, 30, who asked not to be named, said: “He’s a very quiet man. He keeps himself to himself. It’s surprising. A king living on a council estate.”

Mr Bushayija was the son of a brother of King Kigeli, whose family came to power in 1959. The ethnic Tutsis were forced to flee the country when it became a republic under President Mbonyumutwa, an ethnic Hutu.

The prince was born in Rwanda in December 1960, but grew up in Uganda before moving to Kenya and then migrating to Britain in 2000. President Kagame of Rwanda, a fellow Tutsi, invited Kigeli to return home, but not as king two years after the 1994 genocide.

It is not known whether Mr Bushayija will accept the appointment. Other members of the royal family are reported to have said they will not recognise him as king.