Ethiopian royal Yeshi Kassa says King Charles would 'be on the right side of history' if he returns the remains of her ancestor buried at Windsor Castle

• Ethiopian royal Yeshi Kassa says the UK should return her ancestor who was buried there.
• Prince Alemayehu was taken to the UK as an orphan and died there at the age of 18.

Ethiopian royal Yeshi Kassa said she was upset by Buckingham Palace's refusal to release the remains of her ancestor who was buried at Windsor Castle in the 19th century.

Kassa is the great-granddaughter of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia's last emperor who was deposed during the country's revolution in 1974.

Speaking at Insider's live editorial panel, "The Exiled Royal" on Wednesday, Kassa opened up about her experience living in the UK during the revolution and her experiences with the British royal family.

Although Kassa said she has a good relationship with the British royals, she said she wished they would reconsider the request to return the remains of Prince Alemayehu, an Ethiopian royal who died in the UK in the 19th century.

As Insider previously reported, Alemayehu was born in 1861 to Tewodros II, Emperor of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), and was taken to the UK as an orphan at the age of 7 by British soldiers following the Battle of Maqdala, during which the emperor's fortress was besieged by British troops. Alemayehu's father died by suicide in order to evade imprisonment after the battle, and his mother died during the journey to Britain.

The prince spent his childhood in the UK and died from pleurisy at the age of 18. He was buried at St George's Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle, a 900-year-old residence that's occupied by the British royal family.

Alemayehu's descendants have been calling for the return of the prince's remains for several years with no avail. In a statement obtained by Insider in May 2023, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said it would be "very unlikely" to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of others who are buried in the vicinity.

"The British royal family have been incredibly good to my family and Emperor Haile Selassie's family," Kassa said during Insider's panel. "But as an Ethiopian, it makes me very sad because we are now living in an era where we're able to exhume bodies in a very respectful and decent manner."

Kassa added that if the prince was returned to Ethiopia it would be "good for relations between Ethiopia and England, but also it would be good for King Charles to try and be on the right side of history with this."

"It would be lovely to know if they've even made an effort to do it," Kassa said.

"He's a member of our royal family, and it makes me sad now to even think about it. He was in exile like we were in exile, but we didn't want to go home. But he had a home and he had a family," she added.

Representatives for Buckingham Palace and St George's Chapel declined to comment when contacted by Insider.