Buckingham: According to reports, the Ethiopian prince’s “stolen” remains will not be returned by Buckingham Palace
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza, Mamos Nigeria
Buckingham Royal residence has supposedly declined a solicitation to return the remaining parts of an Ethiopian ruler who came to be covered at Windsor Palace in the nineteenth 100 years.
After British soldiers looted his father’s imperial citadel following the Battle of Maqdala in 1868, Prince Alemayehu, who is said to be a descendant of King Solomon in the Bible, was taken to England and, according to some, “stolen.”
After a troubled upbringing, he passed away at the age of 18, and Queen Victoria requested that he be buried at Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel.
Ethiopians have been debating Alemayehu’s return date for 150 years. The Ethiopian government has pushed more than once for the ruler’s still needs to be returned. Campaigns to bring the young prince’s remains back to his homeland have garnered the support of well-known individuals like the poet and author Lemn Sissay.
However, in an explanation shipped off the BBC, a Buckingham Royal residence representative said eliminating his remaining parts could influence others covered in the sepulchers of St George’s Sanctuary in Windsor Palace.
According to the palace, “It is very unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting places of a substantial number of others in the vicinity.”
It went on to say that while the authorities at the chapel were aware of the significance of paying tribute to Alemayehu, they also had “the responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed.”
Additionally, it stated that the royal family “accommodated requests from Ethiopian delegations to visit” the chapel in the past.
In 2006, the Ethiopian president wrote to Queen Elizabeth II to request that the remains of Alemayehu be exhumed. The request was denied, and the campaign to return Alemayehu began in earnest.
The lord chamberlain, speaking on behalf of the Queen, said, “while Her Majesty was in favor of repatriation […] identifying the remains of young Prince Alemayehu would not be possible,” as reported by the Ethiopian embassy. Nine more bodies had been added to the prince’s grave at St. George’s Chapel.
