HAILE SELASSIE IN ENGLAND

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 April 1937, Page 5

HAILE SELASSIE IN ENGLAND

HOW FORMER EMPEROR LIVES

Despite the secrecy that is being maintained, the “Sunday Express” understands that Haile Selassie, dispossessed ruler of Abyssinia, now living in exile in Britain, has decided that his eldest son, Afsah Wozan, shall leave his sanctuary in Jerusalem to represent his father at the Coronation, Haile Selassie, his Empress and court have since last Summer been living near Bath, occasional visits to their town house, Abyssinian Legation, in Princes Gate, London. But the I 'man whom millions of subjects once called King of Kings spends most of his time in the ancient. Roman city of Bath as plain Mr. Tatar i Makonnen.

How does this exiled Emperor live? The dapper little secretary was apologetic when he greeted me with: “You must excuse our lack of hospitality, but the court is fasting. It is also in mourning,” wrote Gwyn Lewis in the “Sunday Express” recently. He went on: “We have recently had a. fast of 40 days, but the present, fast is for two days only.

“We have a two-day fast every week.

The secretary is Sirak Herouy. He is twenty-six, son of Haile Selassie’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ho went, to Oxford, and during the Abyssinian campaign was an important figure at the Abyssinian Foreign Office. Mr. Herouy waved me to a chair. The floor was littered with English, French and Italian newspapers. The headlines explained why the court was in mourning. They told of the shooting of the Emperor’s son-in-law, Ras Desta, last of Haile Selassie’s chieftains to hold out against Italian rule.

Mr. Herouy, offering me a cigarette, said: “I fear yon find this a melancholy house. It is rt. house of ness.“Apart from the death of the brave Ras Desta, there is no happiness in this house. How can there be among us exiles? His Majesty’s children living here are alone the happy ones.’ Mr. Herouy then gave m$ the personnel of the court of the King of Kings maintained at Fairfield. He said: “The Emperor lives here with the Empress. Their twelve-year-old son, the Duke of Harar, is at a Bath boarding school, hut spends week-ends here.

“He plays football, fences, boxes, rides a bicycle, and wants to be an engine-driver. “His five-year-old brother, Prince Sahle Selassie, also lives here, and we have occasional visits from his sister, Princess Tsahai, who is a probationary.. nurse in a London hospital.

“The. Emperor’s grandson, now at a Taunton school, spends week-ends here. His father was Ras Desta. “In addition to these and other children of the royal family we have with us Ras Kassa, one of the generals in command during the campaign.” Bearded, deeply religious. Ras Kassa feels exile more bitterly than any. He was blamed by many for the loss of the war.

I asked Mr. ITerouy about the staff at Fairfield. He said: “We have an English chef, but owing to our frequent fasting his task is light. We also have an English chauffeur for our three motorcars, and an English gardener. “The rest of the staff is Ethiopian, comprising a butler, a valet, three maids, two stewards, myself and another secretary.” Haile Selassie retires early and rises early. He is seen walking along country lanes in black hat and long black cape before S o’clock in the morning. By 9 o’clock he is dealing with correspondence. A frugal lunch is followed by two hours of prayer and meditation. He devotes the afternoons to granting audiences, followed by the signing of letters. He spends his evenings either reading or writing the story of his life and his fight with Mussolini, 1 asked Mr. Herouy whether his master is now reconciled to spending the rest of his life in England. He replied- “Who can tell what the future holds? We can only fast—and pray."