- Yeshi Kassa is the great-granddaughter of Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia.
- In a new documentary, she shares the horrific treatment her family received during the revolution.
Yeshi Kassa was at boarding school in the UK when her great-grandfather, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, was deposed by a revolution in 1974.
Thousands of miles away in Wales, Kassa and her sister didn't experience the turmoil that unfolded in Ethiopia after the coup. Kassa's mother and grandmother were among the 12 royal family members who were imprisoned, and the emperor was killed by Marxist army officers in 1975, The Washington Post reported in 1994.
Initially, there were mixed reports over what happened to Selassie, but in 1994 it was confirmed that he was strangled in his bed as those responsible were brought to trial, the publication added.
Kassa told Insider she lived a quiet life in exile; she became a commodity broker in England before relocating to the US several years later with her family after they were released from prison. She didn't use a royal title, and didn't speak publicly about the horrors that she and her relatives endured.
But now for the first time, Kassa examines the events that led to the collapse of Ethiopia's 3,000-year-old royal dynasty in the documentary "Grandpa Was An Emperor," which was directed by Constance Marks and premiered on streaming platforms including Apple TV, iTunes, and Amazon on Tuesday.
Kassa and Marks spoke to Insider about what it was like to make the documentary.
Queen Elizabeth II supported the documentary behind the scenes
The documentary, which was delayed in its release due to the pandemic, follows Selassie's 44-year reign, the civil unrest and famine in Ethiopia leading up to the revolution, as well as the struggles that Kassa's family experienced in prison. 12 members of the royal family were held in a 154-square-foot room with no running water and giant rats.
Speaking to Insider, Kassa said she and Marks were acquaintances before making the documentary, and the familiarity they had made it easier for the family to open up to her and relive their experiences. Marks is an award-winning director who has been in the industry for more than 35 years, according to her website.
"It was important that my mom felt comfortable with who she was working with. You know, she and all of the family had refused to do interviews, let alone be filmed," Kassa said.
"She was ready to tell her story, and I think she instinctively knew she was in good hands," she added.
Kassa said her mother died in January, but was able to watch a private screening of the film before the pandemic in 2020.
The documentary also touches on the emperor's close working relationship with the late Queen Elizabeth II. The British monarch and Selassie met on a handful of occasions through the years, including during Selassie's state visit to the UK in 1954, according to the Royal Collection Trust, and during the Queen and Prince Philip's state visit to Ethiopia in 1965, according to the website British Heritage.
Kassa said she wrote to the Queen to inform her they were making the film and to ask if she had any photos of the emperor, as all the photos the family previously owned were destroyed in the revolution.
"And we got a very polite note back, I remember it saying, 'Her Majesty thinks it's a wonderful project and wishes you the best," Kassa said.
"A month later, I got this package, and there was a letter from her lady-in-waiting, saying that Her Majesty went through her personal archives of her visit to Ethiopia, and she's enclosed these pictures for you, which was so lovely," she added.
"I wish we'd been able to have a screening for her," she said.
The photos provided were of a "personal nature" and were not shown in the film, a spokesperson for the documentary confirmed to Insider after the interview.
Kassa added that she's extremely grateful to the British royal family and British public for their support during the revolution. At the time, many people wrote letters to their local MPs, which led to an international campaign that was "instrumental" in saving the family members who were imprisoned, Kassa said.
After 14 years in prison, seven female members of the royal family were released in May 1988, AP News reported at the time.
Kassa says she has never used a royal title
As an award-winning director, Marks is no rookie when it comes to filmmaking. But her experience with royals was limited when she met Kassa's family, she told Insider.
"I was always curious, I'll buy the odd magazine and I was a Princess Diana devotee," she said. "But I did feel a little nervous around Yeshi's mom, not because of anything that she did, but just because I understood the importance of her role. But after some time, I really was embracing everybody and starting to feel like family."
But one challenge that she experienced was the natural hierarchy that comes with working with royals.
"If you want to do something, the question has to go up the chain of command... everything has to go through checkpoints," Marks said.
Nonetheless, there are other aspects of Kassa's life that remain very unroyal. She said she has never used a royal title, and her classmates at boarding school in Wales didn't even know she was a royal until the revolution made news in the UK.
"I don't assume that I'm a princess. That's something that if it happened, would have been bestowed on me by my grandpa, or the crown prince if he became emperor," she said. "But that ended with the death of Grandpa."
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.