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The Stolen Princess In Queen Victoria’s Court

The Stolen Princess In Queen Victoria’s Court
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July 29, 2024 | Penelope Singh

The Stolen Princess In Queen Victoria’s Court


Strong, intelligent, and best known as Queen Victoria’s African goddaughter, Sarah Forbes Bonetta led an extraordinary life. Her experiences, however, were far from idyllic.

Though history remembers her as “Sarah Forbes Bonetta,” that wasn't actually her name, at least not at her birth. Born in 1843 in Oke-Odan, a West African village in what is present-day Nigeria, her family originally called her "Omoba Aina," which roughly translates “Princess Aina” in English.

Unfortunately, this princess didn’t spend her early years living in the lap of luxury. Her situation was far more grim.

She was captured as a slave, and later raised as the queen’s ward in English high society. But if her time in England revealed anything, it’s that any cage, no matter how gilded, is still just a cage.

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