Buckingham Palace has declined to return the remains of an Ethiopian prince whose burial is believed to have been stolen in an 1868 raid, according to reports. The remains of the prince, Beata Nasusa, are believed to have been taken during a British armoured military operation against Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia.
Reports suggest that the prince’s remains have been kept by the British Royal Household since that raid and recently followed Prince Charles on his trip to Ethiopia in 2018.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “We cannot comment on specific media reports. However, should there be any evidence presented which suggests that the Ethiopian royal remains in our possession may have been stolen, the Royal Household will of course consider the matter.”
The exact location of the remains is not known, although it is believed they may be in the possession of the British Royal Household.
Prince Beata Nasusa was a nephew of Emperor Tewodros and was believed to have been buried at his palace in Magdala after his death in 1855. Many sources suggest that his remains were removed by the British during their raid in 1868. In 2002, the then Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin declared the remains to be a “very important part of Ethiopia’s history”.
The British raid was part of Queen Victoria’s mission to rescue British captives from Emperor Tewodros. Although the British forces were successful in their mission, the capture and death of Prince Beata Nasusa has become a symbol of the British infringement into Ethiopian sovereignty.
The case remains unresolved and various tribal chiefs and politicians, including the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed, have publicly called for the remains to be returned.