The 'Lost' African Princess Who Was Actually Raised By Queen Victoria

When the English Heritage commissioned artist Hannah Uzor to paint a new portrait to adorn the walls of Queen Victoria's home-turned-museum, it was the honor of a lifetime. Not only would Uzor get to introduce her little-known subject, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, to the world, but she would also have the chance to share Bonetta's royal history and incredible life story that had been left out of the history books.

Forgotten Figure

As Uzor prepared to start work on the momentous portrait, she dove into researching Sarah Forbes Bonetta. The more she read, the more astounded she became at this woman's story. How had history left someone like Bonetta out of the narrative for over a hundred and forty years?

Royal Start

From the start, Bonetta had a historic life. She'd become Queen Victoria's goddaughter after the queen took her under her wing at the young age of 7, but she was already of royal descent. Bonetta was born a Yoruba princess, from the Egbado tribe, and her journey from West Africa to England had been a hard one.

Nostalgic Years

For the first few years of her young life, Bonetta enjoyed happiness and peace. She was born Omoba — a title, meaning "child of the monarch" — Aina, and she was the daughter of an Egbado prince and princess in Oke-Odan in present-day Nigeria. But her royal lineage came with a price: stability was never guaranteed, as her parents had power-hungry enemies.

War Breaks Out

By the time Aina was five, the timer had run out on that stability, and her parents' nation broke out into war defending itself from the Kingdom of Dahomey. After long and bloody battles, Dahomey was victorious. Its army captured and enslaved Aina's citizens, and murdered her parents.