Two years later a Roman Catholic mission was established in Bukeye with the goal of further educating the prince and one day converting him to Catholicism.

"[3] In June 1962, shortly before Urundi's independence, he went on a tour of villages throughout the country to present a speech appealing to residents to commit to hard work and to respect law and order.

Mwambutsa attended ceremonies in Bujumbura to mark the occasion, reviewing troops of the Burundian National Army (Armée Nationale Burundaise).

He delivered a speech in which he asked Burundians and foreign technicians to "work together in a common effort to make this Burundi a peaceful, hard-working, prosperous, and perfectly happy country.

Despite their failure to take power, Mwambutsa fled into exile in the Republic of the Congo, eventually moving to Switzerland.

The monarchy was finally abolished altogether in a third coup in November 1966 and its leader, Michel Micombero, came to power as president and dictator.

[7][1] Mwambutsa's remains were exhumed from their burial site in Switzerland in 2012 with a view to repatriating them to Burundi for a state funeral.