A lone lion — the sad story of Prince Alamayu, heir to the Ethiopian Empire
This is a little-known and deeply sad story. It is the story of Prince Alamayu, the only son and heir of Emperor Tewodros (Theodore) II, who led the Ethiopian Empire, also known as Abyssinia, between 1855 and 1868, when he committed suicide in order not to have to surrender to the forces of the British empire .
The British army, reinforced by Indian soldiers, undertook an expedition officially set up to rescue English missionaries and diplomats retained by Emperor Theodore, although the main reason was to force a military cooperation agreement between the Ethiopians and the British Empire.
Theodore’s forces were unable to stand up to the invading army and the Magdala Fortress, from which Ethiopian territory was defended, ended up falling. From the plunder that followed, countless treasures were brought to London, including the only heir, Prince Alamayu, then 7, to be “educated” and “protected” in England.
The now widowed Empress Tiruwork Wube, accompanied them, along with several members of the imperial court, but ended up dying on the trip, still on African soil.
During the funeral of the Empress, Alamayu’s grandmother, Woizero Lakiyaye, handed to the British commander a letter to be taken to Queen Victoria asking that she take care of the prince as if he were her son.
When it was time to embark to England, members of the Ethiopian court were released and Alamayu went into exile alone, from where he would never return.
The Prince was initially cared for by the adventurer and explorer Captain Tristam Speedy, who mastered Aramaic, the same language spoken in Abyssinia at that time. At his residence, on the Isle of Wight, he was finally introduced to Queen Victoria, who immediately became fond of the sad-looking child.
The Queen took responsibility for the education of the Prince. Alamayu was then educated in elite schools and studied with renowned tutors, appointed and paid for by Queen Victoria.
We can barely imagine how it was like for him to be a stranger among strangers. A Prince, but with black skin and no ties of kinship or culture with the surrounding environment. The photos that exist of Prince Alamayu show a child, and then a young man, with a deeply sad and lost look.
Fate would not give him rest, since the Prince contracted a disease, pleuritis, an inflation of the pulmonary membrane, which at the time could be fatal. Alamayu was unable to recover and died at the age of 18, in 1879, after fighting for six weeks against the disease, helped by renowned doctors at the time.
Queen Victoria recorded her personal sadness in her diary when she was informed of the prince’s death:
“Very grieved & shocked to hear by telegram, that good Alamayou had passed away this morning. It is too sad! All alone, in a strange country, without a single person or relative belonging to him […] Everyone is sorry. ”
Prince Alamayu was buried in a crypt at Windsor Castle.
For many years the Ethiopian government has asked that the Prince’s remains, as well as the treasures and historical objects looted 150 years ago, be returned, without success.
Prince Alamayu remains, in a way, kidnapped and having to stay, even after he died, among those who killed his father and sacked his country.
The story of the lone prince yielded a book, “The Prince Who Walked With Lions”, and a documentary on BBC Radio, in the series Great Lives.
