Sharing a Dusky Kingdom

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 520, 24 November 1928, Page 26

Sharing a Dusky Kingdom

IMPOSING CORONATION OF RAS TAFFARI AT ADDIS ABABA . . . AGED EMPRESS HANDS HIM A CROWN...

SHE coronation of Ras Tafari Makonen, as joint sovereign of Abyssinia with his aunt, the Empress ' Judith, took place with great pomp and ceremony at the palace of the late Emperor Menelik. The sky was aglow with the red rays of sunrise, and a cool breeze was filtering through the forest in which this mountain city lies, when the crown was brought from the Church of the Trinity. It had lain there during the night w’hile blessings were invoked upon it. Addis Ababa was a scene of the greatest . animation, the towm being full of troops and gay with decorations. The Gov ernors of British Italian, and French Somali land are tlu guests of thf Abyssinian Gov ernment. The coronation took place in a silken tent in presence of the high dignitaries of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and the foreign representatives, and was conducted with stately ritual and in a setting of impressive splendour. Dark Blue Mantle The Empress, wearing a crown ablaze with precious stones, was seated on her throne under a scarlet canopy with Tafari Makonen, the heir-appar-ent, seated at her right. He wore a silken head-dress and a dark blue mantle w r ith a red cape. After a short religious ceremony conducted by his Beatitude the Itchegi (the next most exalted dignitary of the Abyssinian Church after its head, the Abuna) the heir-apparent, rising in his place, was led before the Empress. As he inclined before her she delivered to him a crown equal in splendour to her own. Then handing to him the sword of state, she said: My beloved son, when Almighty God by His favour seated me on the throne of my august father Menelik 11. it was His will that you should be my support. In furtherance of His divine w'ill I invest you this day with royal rank and confer upon you this crown. I pray that the Divine Creator will one day permit you to wear the Imperial crown. “So Be It” To this Tafari Makoneh replied:

, So be it. May your wishes be ful- ! tilled. Theu, ascending his throne amid i the thunder of cannon, the newlyj crowned King received the homage of the grand dignitaries of the EmpireThe Empress, who by this act signi lies her renunciation of all active participation in the government of the Abyssinian Empire, remained behind surrounded by a few personal attendants, and watched the procession from the now-deserted tent. The new Emperor is the heir of King Solomon and the Queen of ShebaHe will be King of Kings of Ethiopia, the Conquering Lion of Judah, the Elect of God. And he will be thus proclaimed in the 70 languages of modern Abyssinia. It is of happy augury that the staling of the crown should have come about peacefully, for when the Emperor Lej Yasu, Menelik’s grand son and successor (now kept in close captivity), was deposed in 1916, and Zauditu and Tafari were nominated respectively Empress and Regent, they were only able to establish themselves after a bloody battle where | 10,000 corpses strewn around Addis Ababa, the capital, marked the change ! of regime. In Addis Ababa, latest of many : capitals of Abyssinia, founded hy Menelik after his great victory over the Italians in 1596, Zauditu and Tafari jointly administered a country as hf as Britain, Franco, Belgium and Hot land combined. n A “Council of Elders,” about 2 strong, and a smaller “Council of the Crown” are supposed to “assist” the Regent in his work, but nothing o importance can be definitely decide without reference to the Empress. And so, almost every day, sitting a modern motor-car or riding a for geously caparisoned mule, the R e S e ® is the central figure of a long nr' v ° sion of quaintly dressed fcorseme bearing sword and shield, ana soldiers with modern rifles, wiDdl '? down from his palace, a modern, co fortably arranged villa, to the “GIB