Her very royal highness: Sometimes, she is that beautiful flower hidden in the ordinary section of a Kampala event, it could be a soccer match, and it could be her dancing to some Joshua Baraka music. Princess Katrina is to Buganda Kingdom what Natasha is to the Museveni family

For most people, when they think about royals, they think about structure, tradition, all these conventions to uphold, the grammage of paper to be used when one is writing to the queen, and getting the titles right. Yet, here comes Princess Katrina. She has brought a new definition to princesshood, she is Princess Par Excellence. She has said to all of us; look, a princess can be outgoing, a princess can be funny, a princess can dance when her best song plays, and in doing these normal people things, it does not subtract from a princess.

The United Kingdom had Diana Frances Spencer, the Princess of Wales. Buganda and Uganda at large have Sarah Katrina Mirembe Ssangalyambogo Nachwa, aka the Princess of Kampala. She is the people’s princess, choosing to live most of her life outside the confines of the palace, partaking in the daily activities of the commoners.  Princess Katrina was born on July 4, 2001, a few years following the royal wedding of her parents , Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and Queen Sylvia Nagginda Luswata, aka Nabagerekka, in 1999. It was the wedding of the century and for many years to come, Uganda may not witness a function that grips the entire attention of the country.

Continuing the Royal Sports Legacy

One of the earliest recorded childhood videos of Kabaka Mutebi is when he is engaging in a game of tennis. Prince David Kintu Wasajja (brother to the king) on the other hand is known among the running circles as an active member of the Hashers Club. It is perhaps from Prince Wasajja that Princess Katrina picked the love for the commons, for not having one’s life restrained by the demands of royal nonchalance. For example, it is easy to flex shoulders unknowingly with Prince Wasajja at a Kampala-Jinja relay, and yet, despite all this, one can always read the composure of royalty, through his demeanour, his touch, and his language.

In comes Princess Katrina making her debut on the national swim team. It was among her first moments in the limelight. She would then leave the country for her high school at the prestigious Peponi School in Ruiru, Kenya. It is Peponi that seems to have had the biggest influence on the princess, and she often refers to all the friends for life that she made from Peponi.

Defying the odds of dyslexia

Although uncommon for royals to openly talk about their struggles, Princess Katrina does not shy away from her journey with dyslexia. She talks about the giggles from some of her classmates when she struggled to pronounce certain words. It seems dyslexia did not hold her back; it became her superpower (in the words of billionaire – Richard Branson).

While at Peponi, she helped run the checkpoints at the Annual Hog Charge, an off-road charity mountain bike race. She was also the head of sports at Peponi and captained both the basketball and football teams. There is no doubt the princess immersed herself into sports from an early age.

So passionate about sports, she flew to Qatar and joined the Ganda traditional dance troupes during the world cup in there.

The Education Trailblazer

At Peponi, her subject specialisations were psychology, photography and physical education. In 2019, she enrolled into the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom (UK), where she graduated with an Upper Second-Class Honours’ degree in Business Management on July 24, 2023. At her graduation, the Nabagerekka was in attendance together with Prince Jjunju and Princess Victoria Nkinzi, among others.

The princess is currently pursuing her Master’s in Science in Sports Business and Leadership at Loughborough University in the UK and will be graduating in the last half of this yeay. She is also enrolled at the Johan Cruyff Institute for the FIFA football agent examination.

The Princess is outside – working

She is famously remembered for popularising the ‘tuli waweru – tuli outside line’. And indeed, the princess prefers to be outside, working, meeting with people; she is the definition of a princess on the ground. She does not wait to be told what is happening outside the palace, she is outside the palace.  She has worked as a brand representative at Carpe Noctum, an events company in Nottingham. She was active in organising CRISIS – UK’s biggest weekly student night. When it comes to ticketing, crowd management, and social media for events, the princess has been there, done it.

From seizing the night with Carpe Noctum, the princess then joined Two Circles as a sports analyst with the UK Premier League and UEFA Women’s Champion League among their clients. Currently, the princess is freelancing as a sports content and digital media producer. She is the kind to take a simple sports event and transform it into a lasting story, one that captures the hearts and souls of the fans.  Silently, but surely, the princess has curated her brand in sports and events. It is her bread and butter; it is her life’s work. If one were to ask, what is Princess Katrina all about? It is down to sports and events. She lives at the intersection of talent management and fan engagement. She is that bridge between these two worlds.

The Humaniser – The princess without titles

For most people, when they think about royals, they think about structure, tradition, all these conventions to uphold, the grammage of paper to be used when one is writing to the queen, and getting the titles right. Yet, here comes Princess Katrina bringing a human element to royalty.  On one of Nabagerekka’s birthdays, she recommended a selfie video of the queen, and the world got an unfiltered glimpse into that remarkable queen’s smile, the one that melts the hearts of her subjects. Sometimes, she is that beautiful flower hidden in the ordinary section of a Kampala event; a soccer match, or it could be her dancing to some Joshua Baraka. Princess Katrina is to Buganda Kingdom what Natasha is to the Museveni family.

She is a princess just out to live. She is a princess of people’s hearts. Although her name (buffalo’s horn) would suggest otherwise, her power is in how she spices our mundane lives. She is a princess who lives among her people. She presents a beautiful contradiction, she is exposed to criticism, sometimes for her preference to use English. And she will often come back to the same platforms to offer her explanation. She has engaged in dance challenges; the world witnessing her workout routines.

She is just not out to force any life. She is already a royal, her best gift is to present herself unfiltered, to humanise everything about the kingdom, to say, we laugh just like you, we dance just like you, and we are one with you. Some argue that this could later put her on a crash course with the kingdom establishment. If we draw parallels with Princess Diana; participating in the parent’s race at Prince Harry’s sports day, greeting an HIV/Aids patient at a time when stigma was highest. All these humanising efforts could be unsettling for the gatekeepers of royal structure and tradition.

The princess cares for her people

Perhaps it is also high time the country sought the princess for some national duty. She is true to the Gen-Z ideals, of not conforming, of not being trapped by the ideals of the past, but seeking that which resonates to one’s values, one’s aspirations, one’s heart.  She is out to build a legacy but on her own terms. As she lives, one message seems to come out, that it is okay to stop the performance, let us just live, let us just love, let us just care. And what better way to express this message than through sports and events? She espouses the ideal of joy, our vibes princess.

She has brought a new definition to princesshood, she is Princess Par Excellence. She has said to all of us ; look, a princess can be outgoing, a princess can be funny, a princess can dance when her best song plays, and in doing these normal people things, it does not subtract from a princess. And in doing this, she has been a silent reformer.

A reminder of Ganda femininity

If for everything, Princess Katrina has rebranded Ganda femininity or perhaps reminded us of what it means to be a Ganda woman. A woman not really held by convention, instead convention is a compass but not a limitation. Ganda femininity is imposing, although not loud, it speaks in action, it takes assured steps and is never held back.

As she enters the final half of her 20s, it will be beautiful to watch the evolution of the princess’ character arc. Will she curtail her light? Will she even go bolder? Go where the rabbit holes of ordinary life lead? Or will there be straps on her steps?

Yet regardless of the outcome, she owns space in ordinary folk’s hearts, whether it is when she strides in her chiffon dresses, rolls out a new workout routine or takes us by a newest surprise. She is Omumbejja waffe, one of our own, our person, our Kapo, our Kamanda. And when she says jump, we shall ask; “how high…your highness?”

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