Say he avoids the ambush or has more men with him to fight off the Zulu. IOTL he expressed a wish to return home within a couple of years.
So he returns home, and the monarchists now have their dream: a smart, young, charismatic war hero. Does he follow his father's route into elective politics or just wait for some of IOTL's close National Assembly votes on republic v. monarchy to go his way?