Buckingham Palace Refuses to Return Ethiopian Prince's Remains Despite Request

Buckingham Palace has refused to return the remains of Prince Dejatch Alemayehu, an Ethiopian prince who was brought to the UK by British forces as a child and buried at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor after his death at 18. The Ethiopian government and his descendants have made formal requests for his repatriation, but the palace has cited the need to preserve the dignity of the departed and the difficulty of exhuming his remains without disturbing others. Many Ethiopians view Alemayehu as a prince who was “stolen” from his home country as a child and Buckingham Palace’s refusal has reignited discussions about Britain’s colonial past.