Nelson Mandela was born into a royal family
In the broader Xhosa language group of South Africa, as is true for every other tribal confederation in the region, social organization tends to be loose, and quite often, individual loyalties are to family and village rather than a paramount king. There tends, therefore, to be ‘houses’ rules by minor kings, and one of these is the Thembu clan. Mandela’s great-grandfather on his father’s side was the king of the Thembu people, and this made Mandela royalty, albeit of modest rank.
One of the greatest complications of royal lineage in traditional African life is polygamy, and oftentimes, the rules of royal succession are governed by the seniority of women within a polygamous family structure, and also, of course the tribe and clan origins of any particular woman, and what rank that implies. Nelson Mandela belong to what is generally regarded as a ‘cadet’ branch of the royal lineage, primarily through the female branch, and although recognized as a member of a royal family, his particular branch is ineligible to inherit the throne.
The Mandela archive, just for the record, makes the following note on the name Mandela: ‘ The Mandela name is one of heritage, strong values and royalty. The Mandelas are the descendants of a royal bloodline that dates back to the 18th century when Thembu Land was part of the royal kingdom of the Eastern Cape. Our legacy can be traced back to King Ngubengcuka, the king of the Thembus; tracing back to a small village in the Eastern Cape, where the great Chief Mphakanyiswa of Mvezo and father to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ruled.’
It probably goes without saying that royal blood or not, the young Nelson Mandela lived very much as a subject of a monolithic British Empire with scant regard for his capabilities and expectations. Mandela described his own childhood as idyllic, and steeped in traditional values, but when it came to education, for a black man to succeed in South Africa, twice the effort was usually required for half the expectation.