Swaziland''s King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, has chosen an 18-year-old student for his tenth wife, according to a palace source.

　　The 34-year-old, British-educated king picked out his bride-to-be, Nolichwa Ntenteza, during a traditional reed dance festival in southern Swaziland.

　　"A private traditional ceremony will be held at the royal village with the bride''s family," the palace source told Reuters on Sunday. No date for the wedding was set.

　　Mswati can choose a new wife every year from among thousands of virgins who parade at annual reed dance ceremonies. The king chose a 17-year-old as his ninth wife last year.

　　Official biographers say Mswati''s father, King Sobhuza, had more than 125 wives during his reign of 61 years, which ended when he died in 1982.