“Beauty is not one’s own but rather a reflection of one’s people, one’s country. It is an asset one holds in trust. At that time, a black model appearing in top magazines was rare. I wanted to destroy the myth of white superiority in terms of beauty and sophistication”_ Princess Bagaaya of Toro. 

Princess Bagaaya was born Elizabeth Christobel Edith Bagaaya Akiiki to Lieutenant Sir George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III, the eleventh Omukama of Toro, in 1936. Her mother was Kezia Byanjeru Abwooli a daughter of Nikodemo Kakoro (a senior chief of the king). 

Within and outside the kingdom, Princess Bagaaya’s mesmerizing beauty, warmth of heart, and academic prowess endeared her to many. She went to Gayaza High School and then Sherborne School for Girls in England where she was the only black student and as a result she felt immense pressure to succeed so as not to reflect poorly on the entire race. She then joined Cambridge University and became the third African woman to graduate from Cambridge University in 1962,where she studied law, politics and history. And in November 1965 Princess Bagaya became a barrister at law, ultimately making her the first east African woman to be admitted to the English bar. 

Princess Bagaaya often used her position to act as a link between some of the architects of Africa’s liberation struggles and british leadership. However, due to the untimely passing of her father and the ascension to the throne of her brother, Rukirabasaija Patrick David Matthew Koboyo Olimi III, the 12th Omukama of Toro in 1965. Princess Bagaaya returned home and joined Kazzora and Co. Advocates, before she was called to the Ugandan bar, becoming Uganda’s first female lawyer and. To mark the occasion the then attorney general, Godfrey Binaisa, who later briefly became president, came to court unexpectedly and introduced her to the bar. 

In 1966 Milton Obote the president of Uganda at the time abolished kingdom, thus causing Bagaaya to lose her title as Batebe (Princess Royal) and her office as the most powerful woman in the Tooro kingdom. 

A personal invitation came from Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowdon to participate in a widely publicized Commonwealth fashion show at Marlborough House in London. Princess Bagaaya walked out onto the stage in an outfit from a Ugandan collection designed by Philippa Todd, a prominent member of the Makerere University’s Art Department, at the time.

Princess Bagaaya instantly became a fashion sensation.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom she’d met at a party, introduced her to the New York fashion scene, where she was catapulted into mainstream fashion. Her accidental hairstyle became all the rage among the African-American community referred to as “the Elizabeth of Toro hairstyle.” The June 1969 edition of Vogue featured her in a four-page spread, and in November of the same year, she made history in becoming the first black model to be photographed for the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. She modelled in numerous fashion shows and was featured in magazines that included the British Vogue, Queen Magazine, American Vogue, Look, LIFE and Ebony magazines. 

Princess Bagaaya also ventured into acting, featuring in the movie, Bullfrog in the Sun based on Chinua Achebe’s book “things fall apart”, and Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, a 1984 fantasy adventure film. 

She then returned to Uganda and took up a career in politics and she was appointed Uganda’s ambassador and delegate to the United Nations later in 1974 gave a moving speech at the United Nations. She also served as ambassador to the United States, Uganda’s Ambassador to Germany and the Vatican and Uganda’s High Commissioner to Nigeria. 

Princess bagaaya then retired from public service in year and released her autobiography, “African Princess: The Story of Princess Elizabeth of Toro.”