Seven-year-old Prince Alemayehu was taken to England after battle of Magdala, and he died there in 1879 on the age of 18.
A lock of hair from an Ethiopian prince who died in 1879 and artefacts looted by the British army during a Nineteenth-century battle towards Ethiopia’s Emperor Tewodros II have been returned to the East African nation.
The objects returned to the Ethiopian embassy in London at a ceremony late on Thursday included three silver cups and a defend.
The objects had been pillaged throughout the battle of Magdala in 1868 when 13,000 British soldiers besieged Emperor Tewodros II’s fortress in what was then referred to as Abyssinia. The emperor killed himself moderately than give up.
The lock of hair was from the emperor’s son, Prince Alemayehu. It was reportedly returned by a descendant of captain Tristram Speedy, a member of the British expedition who turned the prince’s guardian.
After the battle and demise of his father, the seven-year-old Prince Alemayehu was taken to England. He spent the following decade in Britain however died in 1879 on the age of 18.
On the reported request of Queen Victoria, he was buried within the catacombs of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Fort, the royal residence west of London.
The British monarchy, nevertheless, has declined a request from the household of the prince to repatriate his stays because of the must “protect the dignity” of others buried on the chapel.