Buckingham Palace declines to return remains of ‘stolen’ Ethiopian prince

SAD: Prince Alemayehu was deeply unhappy in Britain (photo: Julia Margaret Cameron)

BUCKINGHAM PALACE has declined to return the remains of an Ethiopian prince who is buried at Windsor Castle, according to reports.

Prince Alemayehu, was captured and brought to the United kingdom as a seven-year-old in 1868, and died when he was 18.

He was the only legitimate son of Emperor Tewodros II – who reigned as Emperor between 1818 and 1868, in Abyssinia – now Ethiopia. 

There have been growing calls from campaigners for the Prince’s remains to be returned to Ethiopia.

Prince Alemayehu is buried in St George’s Chapel.

In December a Chapel spokesperson told The Voice, where the Prince is buried is the site of forty seven people and that it would be very unlikely for his remains to be exhumed “without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity.” 

Now, according to statement sent to the BBC, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson has also said that removing Prince Alemayehu’s remains could affect others buried in the catacombs of St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

“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,” the palace said.

Last December, Award-winning poet and author Lemn Sissay, who is of Ethiopian heritage, told The Voice, the Prince’s remains should be returned to Ethiopia.

Mr Sissay said: “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.

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