THE South African Government said yesterday it expected that the Queen

would visit and tour the country next year.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen had ''accepted in

principle'' an invitation to visit the country following its formal

readmission into the Commonwealth last month.

''The Queen was delighted when South Africa came back into the

Commonwealth,'' said a spokesman. ''She has been invited to visit and

has accepted the invitation in principle.''

The South African Foreign Minister, Mr Alfred Nzo, told the Cape Town

parliament that the Queen would visit next year following visits by the

Princess Royal in November, and by Mr John Major next month.

The visits by the Queen and the Princess Royal are still at the

planning stage and no firm dates have been set.

South Africa's Deputy President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, formally invited the

Queen when he was in London last month. He had come to mark the

country's readmission to the Commonwealth, which it had left 33 years

ago because of criticism of apartheid.

It will be the first visit by a British monarch to South Africa since

1947, when King George VI and his wife, now the Queen Mother, toured the

country.

Mr Major's visit will be the first by a British prime minister since

that of Mr Harold Macmillan in 1958.