Who is Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace? Where is she now?
ROBERT Mugabe's wife Grace Mugabe was placed under house arrest alongside her husband after the army seized control of Harare. But who is the First Lady of Zimbabwe and where is she now?
Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe, 52, has been the First Lady of Zimbabwe since her marriage to the elderly dictator Robert Mugabe in 1996.
She has a high profile role in the ruling Zanu-PF party as head of its women's league, instrumental in ousting several potential successors to the presidency.
It is belived she was to follow in her husband's footsteps as leader of the South African country after Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, was sacked from his post as vice-president earlier this month.
Mrs Mugabe has since gone on to gain key party support from members, incuding her husband, to suceed him to vice-presidency.
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At the age of 52, Mrs Mugabe is four decades younger than her husband.
She was previously married to Stanley Goreraza, an air force pilot, whom she had a son, Russell Goreraza, born in 1984.
As a secretary to the president, she began an affair with Mr Mugabe while she was still married to Mr Goreraza.
Mr Mugabe's wife Sally was terminally ill at the time.
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The pair went on to have three children, Bona named after Mr Mugabe’s mother, Robert Peter Jr and Chatunga.
They married in a extravagant Catholic wedding ceremony, dubbed the ‘Wedding of the Century’ by the local media.
Mrs Mugabe is said to have been behind the ousting of former Vice-President Joice Mujuru in 2014.
She called for her to be sacked, saying the then vice-president was “corrupt an extortionist, incompetent, a gossiper, a liar and ungrateful”.
She also accused Ms Mujuru of collaborating with opposition forces and white people to undermine the country’s post-independence gains.
Just a few months later Ms Mujuru was expelled from the party.
And in 2017, Mrs Mugabe publicly called for her husband to sack Mr Mnangagwa after previously describing him as “loyal and disciplined”.
She accused his supporters of planning a coup.
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In November, Mr Mnangagwa was sacked for "exhibited traits of disloyalty".
But away from the poltiics, Mrs Mugabe is a charity worker who founded an orphanage on a farm just outside the capital.
The Zimbabwe army seized power on Tuesday night with gunshots and explosions heard in the capital near where Mr and Mrs Mugabe and a number of government officials live.
There was no immediate word from Mr Mugabe himself who is believed to be under house arrest.
Reports yesterday suggested Mr Mugabe could step down as president in exchange for the safe extradition of Mrs Mugabe, who is nicknamed 'Gucci Grace' by her critics who accuse her of enjoying a lavish lifestyle.
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Other reports suggested Mrs Mugabe actually fled to Namibia. These reports have since been denied and it is thought she is still in Zimbabwee.
Oppostion MP Eddie Cross yesterday told BBC News that he understood she had been allowed to leave the country on Tuesday night by the army.
Army spokesman Maj Gen SB Moyo said Mr Mugabe and his family are “safe and sound”.
In a statement broadcast overnight, Moyo insisted: "We wish to make this abundantly clear this is not a military takeover of government.
"What the Zimbabwe defence forces is doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country, which if not addressed may result in violent conflict."
