Machel, the widow of Mozambique's late President Samora Machel, exudes charm and warmth and retains much of the physical beauty of her youth.

The 52-year-old Machel married Mandela yesterday, thus achieving the feat of becoming the bride of two heroes of African liberation.

Fiercely intellectual, she is part of the African independence struggle, epitomised by Mandela, who celebrated his 80th birthday by ringing the wedding bells.

Graca will retain the Machel name, a move that underlines her independent nature. Until yesterday's surprise wedding, Machel maintained that while she loved Mandela, she would not marry him. In an interview last year she told Reuters,``I belong to Mozambique. I will always be the wife of Samora Machel. I like being called Mrs Machel. It's the only way I can keep my husband alive.''

Machel's anguish at losing her first husband was visible at hisfuneral in 1986, following his death in a suspicious air crash. She mourned for a full five years after his death. Her romance with Mandela started in the mid-1990s, but it was only in September 1996 that the secret became public knowledge after they were photographed walking hand-in-hand in Paris.