Emperor Haile Selassie in Bath
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2024
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1936, Haile Selassie came to Bath in the west of England to escape Mussolini and the fascists who had invaded Ethiopia.
He bought a property – Fairfield House - and moved his entire family and staff there. He quickly became the talk of the town.
The local paper ran daily updates on the Emperor’s schedule and dispelled rumours such as the Emperor’s beard "having turned white with anguish" or that he was keeping lions in the basement.
Haile Selassie also made a point of indulging in local amusements and even took a trip to the Tropicana outdoor swimming pool in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.
Selassie returned to Ethiopia in 1940 after the British helped remove Mussolini. He never forgot his time in Bath and renamed one of his palaces Fairfield in tribute to the British city.
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(Photo: Haile Selassie during his coronation. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast with me, Anushkumatanda Dowarty. |
| 0:09.2 | Today I'm taking you back to 1936 and to Bath, a city in the southwest of England that lies astride the River Avon in a natural arena of steep hills. |
| 0:20.5 | Peaceful, picturesque, known mostly for its original Roman Baths and Georgian architecture, |
| 0:25.8 | it was a scenic escape from the hustle and bustle of London. |
| 0:29.3 | That was until the Emperor came to town. |
| 0:34.5 | Emperor Haile Selassie, he was the 225th descendant of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba, Queen Maccada, as she was known. |
| 0:44.7 | That's Professor Sean Naphtali Sobers. He's a trustee of Haile Selassi's former house. |
| 0:49.7 | As for Solomon and Sheba, they're believed to be two mighty rulers of powerful kingdoms from around 10 BC, |
| 0:55.5 | who had a son, marking the beginning of the Ethiopian dynasty. |
| 0:59.4 | So yeah, that's quite the lineage. |
| 1:01.5 | When he was crowned in Ethiopia in 1930, all the countries of the world sent their heads of state to the coronation. |
| 1:09.3 | And the titles that the emperor was given was |
| 1:12.7 | kings of kings, Lord of Lords, the conquering lion of the tribe of Judah. So how does the |
| 1:17.6 | conquering lion end up prowling around the streets of Bath? Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in |
| 1:23.6 | 1933. On October 2nd, Italy was called to a mammoth test mobilization, |
| 1:29.3 | where Il-Ducci electrified a vast throng of delirious fascists with his words. |
| 1:35.3 | To our soldiers in East Africa who are about to start fighting, |
| 1:39.3 | he sends a message, and Italy and the world knew that meant war. |
| 1:50.7 | Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, fired and looted by native rebels, abandoned by the emperor, |
| 1:57.3 | becomes an easy capture. |
| 1:59.3 | And the emperor fought on the front line for a time. |
| 2:02.2 | He didn't want to leave the country, |
... |
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