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. Born an African princess and captured as a slave, she was 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.

[precioustungata]

As a black, female South African born in the 80s there is nothing cute about losing one's identity n being passed around like some animal at such a young age. The impacts of slavery will forever be a painful reminder of how broken Africa is n the greedy, self enriching African leaders who are making the situation worse😢

[sanmisolo]

She is a Yoruba woman. My people from South West of Nigeria. May her soul rest in perfect peace

[libbylib]

She was married to my maternal great great grandfather. Queen Victoria took great care of her. Her wedding gifts are still with her great grands in Nigeria, assuming they have not all been sold off.
Tragic tale.
PS: 'Omo Oba Aina' translates as 'child of king Aina'/'king's child' (Yoruba dialect).

[pathamm]

She was a very beautiful young woman as well as intelligent and gifted .

[glennsepulveda]

Her life story would make a great movie..🤔👍

[blissfullyfemininetv]

There needs to be a movie made about her story!! Fascinating and tragic real life story.

[mariapdr]

Look, I agree that Queen wasn’t right to force Sarah to marry someone she didn’t want to marry but the Queen’s insistence Sarah marry a well to-do former officer is consistent with the morality of women of the time and she didn’t treat Sarah any worse than most women upper class would treat their own children. The fact she insisted Sarah be a part of society, even including her in such prominent events as her own daughters’s weddings, and allowed her to name her child after her shows that she genuinely cared for her. I seriously doubt any other monarch or head of state would have acted in that manner at that time.

[JuliaKapp]

I think part of the reason Victoria accepted Sarah is the fact that she was a Princess in her own right. This was still a time when Royalty was considered Devinely ordained. In a way, she was seen as an equal, rather than an unfortunate orphaned child. Obviously, her intelligence and charm played a part too.

[sashaconrad]

This is a fascinating story! Thank you for sharing it with us.

[taupenoire]

It's time for a biopic to be made about her

[kaleahcollins]

The Dahomey king Gizo wanted her to be his child bride but she was too smart and stubborn she knew her status and remained that way. She knew she was a princess and deserved to be treated that way. He wanted to kill her but was talked out of it . If she stayed she would cause destruction to their people but if they kill her the English wouldnt see it kindly . So it was suggested that shed be given as an offering of friendship to Queen Victoria. Aina already spoke 4 languages ( her own and dahomey plus she knew Portuguese and french i heard

[paulbromley]

When you consider the rigidity of social class of this time the apparent respectability was considered of more importance than personal happiness so this lucky girl saved from death and the horrors of slavery fared far better than the average working class English woman who would be lucky not to die a pauper and would have to marry well to simply survive

[stuartmccall]

The omission of a few critical words can change a true occurrence into false propaganda for mischievous purposes.
Princess Aina was a Yoruban African Princess but captured into slavery by King Ghezo of Dahomey to be blood sacrificed due to her high rank. Captain Forbes RN of HMS Bonetta was on a mission to persuade King Ghezo to stop selling slaves to Europeans and knowing what fate awaited her, accepted her as a "gift" by the King to give to Queen Victoria. The Captain named her Sarah and gave her his own name as middle name and his ship as her family name. The story of Princess Aina's own daughter Victoria is the real story here, as she lived at the Royal Court at Windsor Castle on an annuity provided by her God-Grandmother after her own mother's untimely death. Sarah's wedding to the Yoruban Captain Davies was the biggest wedding the town of Brighton had ever seen, to this day.

[sjwilloughby-greene]

Thank you so much for sharing. I have never heard of this before. So again thank you.❤

[heidibee]

She was lovely and smart (and loved by many). Her time was short, but she made the most of what she was given in this life and left a shining legacy. We don't know much about her marriage, but l would not be surprised if they loved (or at least came to like) each other. TB killed many back then but in today's world it is survivable. I speak from experience.

[PeggyBlackshire-wwmz]

Our ancestors were Beautiful people period

[martoyaparram-aberuagba]

We are merely "EXOTIC PETS" for their entertainment
as you should never put sugar on shit.

[brendaokuda]

What a beautiful but tragic story. She truly persevered. It's a shame she passed so young....💖💖💖

[jaynekranc]

The Queen arranged a lot more marriages than Sarah's.

[KaeMaiden]

*"Oh!...and James was in there too."* That subtle shade😅