Monarch with the most children (current)

King Mswati III of Eswatini (Swaziland) has at least 36 children from his 15 marriages, as of February 2025. He succeeded to the throne as an 18-year-old in 1986, following the death of his father, Sobhuza II, and is the last absolute monarch in Africa.

In Swazi culture, the king is expected to marry multiple women from different clans, in order to cement relationships and encourage national integration. Mswati's latest marriage, in September 2024 – following the country's annual eight-day reed-dance ceremony known as "Umhlanga" – was to Nomcebo Zuma, daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma and Nonkululeko Mhlongo.