Swaziland's King Mswati III has sparked outrage by sending his favorite wives on a globe-trotting shopping spree. The monarch - ruler of some of the poorest people in the world - used £4 million [$7 million] of state money to send at least five of his 13 wives and dozens of their aides to France, Italy, Dubai and Taiwan on a secret trip last week.

Although it is a criminal offense to criticize the king's private life in Swaziland, campaigners have blasted the British government, who give the landlocked African country the majority of the £65 million it receives in European aid each year.

Lucky Lukhele, of the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), told Britain's Times newspaper: "They shout about Zimbabwe, but keep quiet about what is happening in Swaziland, even though they are one of its biggest aid doors. They are wasting British taxpayers' money on this tyrant."

The king has a personal fortune of £145 million [$240 million] and also receives money from the national budget for the upkeep of his family. The £12 million sum he was given last year was more than the nation set aside for education.

More than two thirds of the country's 1.2million population survive on less than 50p per day, and more than a quarter of the adult population suffers from HIV, the world's highest ration.

In addition to the aid received from Europe, Swaziland is also given around £142 million [$235 million] a year from the U.S.

Mswati is no stranger to controversy over his spending, splashing out £3 million [$5 million] on 20 armored Mercedez-Benz cars earlier this year.

Last year, he threw a lavish party to celebrate both his 40th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his country's independence.