Advertisement

A United Kingdom: David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike star in this exclusive new clip


Amma Asante’s stirring new drama ‘A United Kingdom’ hits cinemas on Friday 25 November, and to celebrate we’ve got an exclusive new clip that showcases one of the film’s key moments.

Watch it above.

Starring Oscar nominees David Oyelewo (‘Selma’) and Rosamund Pike (‘Gone Girl’) as Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams, the film tells the incredible true story of the King of Botswana who married an English office worker in 1947 despite immeasurable obstacles.

Star-crossed lovers - Credit: Pathe
Star-crossed lovers – Credit: Pathe

Our clip shows the moment Khama Seretse proposes to Ruth on the bank of the River Thames in a liberated post-war London. The couple were a perfect match, but their proposed marriage was challenged by their families and the British and South African governments at the time.

The recently introduced policy of apartheid in South Africa made the prospect of a biracial couple leading one of the country’s neighbours intolerable, and so the African country threatened the British: thwart the couple or be denied access to South African uranium and gold.

David Oyelewo - Credit: Pathe
David Oyelewo as the King of Botswana – Credit: Pathe
Rosamund Pike - Credit: Pathe
Rosamund Pike as Ruth Williams – Credit: Pathe

South Africa even threatened to invade Seretse’s sovereign nation but the couple never wavered.

It’s an amazing true story and the film was met warmly by critics when it made its debut at the London Film Festival earlier this year.

‘A United Kingdom’ opens in UK cinemas on 25 November 2016.