Winchester student Phoka flies the flag for Lesotho at Commonwealth event

A University of Winchester student rubbed shoulders with Royalty when he attended the recent Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.

Phoka Tsosane, born in Lesotho, had the honour of carrying his homeland’s flag during the ceremony, which was attended by the King, the head of the Commonwealth, Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The 23-year-old was a last-minute replacement as flag bearer. A friend was due to have carried the standard but had to pull out at short notice and Phoka stepped in after his family was contacted by the Lesotho embassy.

Phoka, who is in the second year of his Digital Media Design course at Winchester, joined flag bearers from the other 56 member nations and was pictured parading out of the Abbey on the BBC news website.

For the occasion he wore the mokorotlo, the traditional straw hat of Lesotho, a symbol of the country which is depicted at the centre of its flag.

Phoka said:

“It was a strange experience to see the royals in real life. Prince William is much taller than I expected.

“I didn’t get the chance to meet any of the royal family, but it was a great day. I enjoyed talking with the other flag bearers, learning about their countries and how they were raised.

 “The commonwealth aims to unify, and we all know that that right now the world needs to be unified.”

Phoka came to the UK with his mother and sister 13 years ago. His mum works as a nurse in Birmingham where the family live.

He and his mother and older sister return at least once a year to visit relatives in Lesotho.

His homeland is very unusual –  a landlocked nation completely encircled by South Africa.

 “I didn’t realise how weird it was to grow up in a country inside another country was until I came to the UK,” said Phoka.

Having spent his childhood on a farm, Phoka said that he enjoys life in Winchester as it ‘less hectic’ than Birmingham.

Eventually he hopes to return to Lesotho to start his own business, “I love my country,” he said.

Lecturer in Digital Media Design, Tina Scahill: 

“When Phoka emailed to ask for time away from his lecture for personal reasons I wanted to make sure he was OK.  I was delighted to find out that he was to be part of an historic celebration for the Commonwealth, I could see how proud this made him, and what this would mean to his family. To know more about our students’ life stories brings a new understanding to our interactions with each other.”