THERE ARE growing calls for the United Kingdom to return the remains of a ‘stolen’ Ethiopian prince Prince Alemayehu.
The young Prince was deeply unhappy in Britain and died of lung inflammation aged 18 after being captured as a seven-year-old in 1868.
He is buried in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, but the chapel told The Voice it was impractical to retrieve the boy’s remains because it would disturb the remains of others.
The Ethiopian government has previously called for the prince to be returned to his homeland.
Prince Alemayehu was the only legitimate son of Emperor Tewodros II – who reigned as Emperor between 1818 and 1868, in Abyssinia – now Ethiopia.
In April 1868, British troops invaded northern Abyssinia, during the Battle of Maqdala, also known as the Napier expedition.
Following his defeat, the Emperor committed suicide rather than surrender.
The young Prince was taken back to Britain by Captain Tristam Speedy along with the looted treasures including sacred manuscripts.
A lot of items were auctioned off before even reaching Britain and as a result, may never be recovered.
Award-winning poet and author Lemn Sissay, who is of Ethiopian heritage and has been campaigning for the return of the Prince’s remains, said the Prince’s story resonates with his own story, as he was also “stolen” from his birth mother.
He told The Voice: “In any of the pictures of Alemayehu, he is never happy.
“You are bringing a prince to England and all of his family has been killed, he is relative to nobody. Everybody was staring at him because he was not the same colour as them – he was an object of curiosity.
“They did the same to me! Touching your hair and licking their fingers and touching your skin to see if your colour would come off.”
He added: “Ethiopia was never colonised, so the Ethiopian mentally is not one of someone who has been victimised, so this Battle of Maqdala is like a scar on the body of Ethiopia.
“The Emperor, Haile Selassie I, had a very strong relationship with the Queen, Britain and the monarchy – he was loved here.
“To the Ethiopian community returning the Prince would symbolise everything which is good about the relationship between Britain and Ethiopia.”
A formal request for the return of the Prince’s remains was sent to Queen Elizabeth in 2007, by the then Ethiopian president Girma Wolde-Giorgis.
However, the monarch sparked a diplomatic row in 2019 after refusing the request.
Sissay said that one of the last things British-Ethiopian scholar Richard Pankhurst said to him before he passed away was to “get the manuscripts” – referring to stolen ancient Ethiopian manuscripts being held in British museums and libraries.
His son, Alula Pankhurst, a social anthropologist and member of the Ethiopian National Heritage Committee, said the idea that exhuming the body might disturb the foundations of the chapel was “an excuse not to address the issue.”
He revealed that several high-profile Ethiopians have demanded the remains be returned but their requests went unanswered.
Pankhurst told The Voice: “He would have wanted to go home and one has to consider what his wish was.”
“There have been calls for him to come back and the response has been that the bones had been mixed up with other bones.
“I don’t think that would be a significant argument because I am sure that they wouldn’t have completely mixed up the bones.
“I don’t think it would be difficult to identify the bones. I’m sure his remains would be kept in a casket separate from others because they know he was royalty.”
Ethiopian Amhara activist Yodith Gideon, from Stop Amhara Genocide, said the prince’s remains should be repatriated back to Ethiopia. “What belongs to Ethiopia should be returned to Ethiopia.”
St George’s Chapel dismissed claims the Prince’s remains are mixed in with nine other people, stating: “that is not the case.”
The Chapel said the area where Prince Alemayehu is buried is the site of forty seven people.
According to the St George’s Chapel website, the Prince is buried in the catacombs (a subterranean recess for tombs).
The Chapel said returning the remains would not be possible. A spokesperson said: “The Dean and Canons of Windsor are very sensitive to the need to honour the memory of Prince Alemayehu.
“However, they have been advised that it is very unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity.
“Conscious of the responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed it is therefore, with regret, not something we can agree to at this time, but in recent years we have accommodated requests from Ethiopian delegations to visit St George’s and will continue to do so.”
In 2007, Ethiopia demanded the return of Maqdala-era artefacts from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The British Museum confirmed they had nine sacred Tabots from the Maqdala but are not on public display, in line with the strict rules of Ethiopian Orthodox Churches.
A Tabot can only be viewed by priests in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church.
They also had several other objects that previously belonged to Prince Alemayehu, including a necklace.
A Museum spokesperson said: “Discussions with Ethiopian partners concerning the Maqdala collections are continuing and the Museum is actively invested in these.
“The Museum is also committed to thorough and open investigation of Maqdala collection histories, and engagement with wider contemporary dialogues within which these collections are positioned.”
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Oxford African Caribbean Conversation’s (OACC) Secretary, has opposed strongly the Political Lefts’ campaign to return Africa’s pre-colonial, priceless cultural, and religious artefacts.
OACC’s Secretary opposes the return of Africa’s pre-colonial artefacts currently on public display in the museums of England; Scotland, Germany and the United States, to West Africa.
West Africa does not have museums: and more importantly, the largely Caucasian Christian and Semitic Arabic Islamic believers, do not cherish: value or care about their native African culture and religion which many view as “haram,” or “pagan.”
However, as the imminent Ethiopians Government Ministers have requested the return of Prince Alemayehu’s remains.
OACC’s Secretary wholeheartedly supports the return to African, of the Ethiopian Prince’s remains.
OACC Secretary calls on His Majesty the King of England, to wholeheartedly support the Ethiopian request for the return of Prince Alemayehu.
This organisation is a fake and does not have a geogralhy knowledge, Ethiopia is not a in wesr Africa.
What belongs to Ethiopia (the sacred items and the remains of Prince Alemayehu) must be returned to Ethiopia.
I fully agree and support the return of our prince’s body to his homeland.
I fully agreed and support the return of our Prince remains to homeland of Ethiopia
This vivid and worthy of belief fact of abducting Prince Alemayhu of an Ethiopian national, an eight_year child, in unprovoked incursion of the barbaric UK’s troops is squarly depict the assembly manifest of GENOCIDE against the Ethiopian people by the British government of the United Kingdom. … UK owes the Ethiopian people to return the remains of Prince Alemayhu to his homeland Ethiopia….
Heartbreaking story of Prince Alemayehu Rip ,he’s body must return to homeland.
Yes I also agree for the body to be returned back to his homeland
OK agreed, at least He’d the honour of being the only non British royal to have been buried in the royal chapel of Saint George’s in Windsor. He was much mourned by Queen Victoria who grieved that it was so bad to have died in such loneliness so far from his beloved mother & home
Posted on 2nd January 2023 | Tedy
Heartbreaking story of Prince Alemayehu Rip ,he’s body must return to homeland.
Reply
The UK, do the right thing now, at least, let Price Alemayehu Tewodros remains go home to his native country Ethiopia. In addition,
I think the Ethiopian Government deserves an apology on behalf, to the Mother of Alemayehu from The UK Government?
Well done Ato Lemn Sissay!
Why would a museum mix different bones together knowing it will need to be returned to its rightful place country.
I said returned the prince and the rest of Afarican artifacts
Is there any good legacy left by the colonialists in Africa? Every story I come across is that of lootings and massacre! Even after they departed, there legacy of divide and rule still cause much wars and suffering among tribes that continue to see each other as enemies.
Of course there was NOTHING positive about colonialism! It followed the theft of Africans brought to the americas, Caribbean etc to enrich britain & the rest of europe. Then they set about ensuring there was no evidence that Africans had their own sophisticated societies, systems of learning, banking, medicine, culture…that was the purpose of looting – to remove the evidence then they could lie about why they kidnapped & enslaved Africans in order to build their own economies. What they couldn’t take back with them such as buildings, eg palaces they burnt down. As well as the subjugation & brainwashing of Africans in order for them to believe they were inferior they then set about stealing their land & imposing european languages on the African people. So remove people from their land, language, culture & brutally impose european iconography, language, culture & ideology. British people have been lied to about this part of their history to the extent that they become hostile when Black people attempt to tell the truth! “Until the lions have their historians tales of hunting will always glorify the hunters”
Repatriate Prince ALEMAYEHU him to his rightful homeland Ethiopia. this sad and longing young prince died being detained in a country that wasn’t his own. Denied his rightful place to have become Emperor. Return what is NOT YOURS BRITAIN.
Return all the looted, treasures and artefacts. Do the right thing King Charles.
Sad story , and why is the UK so afraid of returning our Prince. The damage is already done but the British government shall in good faith repair our broken hearts by returning the Prince’s body to Ethiopia. The artifacts may wait but body’s repatriation shall not be politicized, and thats a body and shall be regarded as a British trophy.
His Body should be Home Back soon!
Very interesting article, I know something of this subject as Capt Tristram Speedy was my gg uncle. Having researched my family history in quite great depth the story of Speedy’s time in Abyssinia/Ethiopia is of particular interest to me. I could be wrong but from reading various articles written by relatives and others the prince was not ‘stolen’ at all, but it seems he was handed over to my gg uncle for protection, being the next in line to the throne he was being threatened by other members of the extended family who wanted to rule the country after his father’s death. His father and my gg uncle had a close relationship and Speedy swore to the boy’s dying mother that he would take car of him, hardly the actions of someone ‘stealing’ a child? I’m not saying this is definitely what happened but just what I have gathered from my research. Once in the UK Speedy and his wife Cornelia took great care of the young prince. Queen Victoria was interested in his wellbeing and the Speedys would take them to see her when on the Isle Of Wight and Victoria was staying at Osbourne House. All that said, I can fully understand the call for his remains to be returned and think the British Government could and should make this possible without delay.
Stuart Lloyd.
Yes, Emperor Tewodros indeed made Queen Tirunesh promise that in the event he passed away she should send Alemayehu to England. She had actually accompanied Alemayehu but succumbed to an illness on the road, and all who were in attendance of the prince except one or two persons were made to leave.
It is said that the boy prince had bad feelings about the one guy who was meant to watch over him and would only feel safe under the protection for Captain Speedy. Captain Speedy was much admired by the Abyssinians and the Emperor.
After the Battle of Magdela, Tewodros was seen riding around on horseback and firing his rifle while calling out for a champion to face him in single combat; it was Captain Speedy that accepted it but was not permitted to do so.