“The Story of Alemayehu: The Ethiopian Prince taken to England by Queen Victoria”

At the age of seven, the Ethiopian Alemayehu ended up in England because of a conflict, writes the BBC. In 1862, his father, Emperor Tewodros, wanted to ally with the English. A collaboration with the strong Europeans was to strengthen his empire.

After Queen Victoria did not answer his request, the emperor decided to take Europeans hostage. Among them was also an important British diplomat. A successful English siege followed, with a painful result for the Ethiopian emperor.

Alemayehu taken with mother

Not only were thousands of treasures such as gold crowns, chains and dresses looted by the British. Also, the emperor’s wife, Tiruwork Wube, was taken to England along with son Alemayehu.

Mother Tiruwork Wube died on the way and so little Alemayehu was left alone until he met the British Queen Victoria. His status as an orphan aroused sympathy in her, so she decided to support him financially. She placed him under the tutelage of Captain Tristam Charles Sawyer Speedy, the man who had accompanied the prince on his journey from Ethiopia.

Diary of the Queen

In 1879 the prince died of an unknown illness at the age of 18. Queen Victoria was deeply moved.

“I am very saddened and shocked to learn by telegram that the good Alemayehu passed away this morning,” she wrote in her diary. “It’s sad! All alone, in a foreign land, without a relative to belong to him.”

She arranged a funeral for him at Windsor Castle.

Now, almost 150 years later, the boy’s family has requested that the remains of the body be returned to Ethiopia. “We want his remains back as family and Ethiopians,” family member Fasil Minas told the BBC. “England is not the country where he was born. So burying him there is not right.”

Disturb the environment

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the boy will remain where he is. Excavation of the remains could have implications for others, who are buried in the catacombs of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

It is highly unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a significant number of others in the area.

In addition, the British Royal Family indicates ‘that it has a responsibility to preserve the dignity of the deceased.’

It is not the first time that the body of the prince has been requested. In 2007, the then president of Ethiopia, Girma Wolde Giorgis, unsuccessfully requested Queen Elizabeth to return the body.