Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, Crown Prince of Ethiopia

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Crown Prince Zera Yacob of Ethiopia
Crown Prince of Ethiopia (Head of the Imperial Family)
If monarchy were to be restored, He would be Zera Yacob II, Emperor of Ethiopia
Born	1953
Birthplace	Addis Ababa
Predecessor	Amha Selassie I, Emperor in Exile
Heir-Presumptive	Prince Wossen Seged, Duke of Harrar
Consort	Divorced
Issue	Princess Lideta
Royal House	House of Solomon
Royal anthem	Ityopia Hoy Des Yibelish
Father	Emperor Amha Selassie I
Mother	Empress Medferiashwork

Zera Yacob Amha Selassie (b. 1953) (Ge'ez ዘርአ ያዕቆብ አምሃ ሥላሴ), styled the Crown Prince of Ethiopia is the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie and son of Emperor-in-Exile Amha Selassie of Ethiopia. After the revolution of 1974, he lived in exile in Great Britain where he had been attending school, and briefly in the United States. He is currently living in Addis Ababa. He is currently recognized as the Head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia by the Crown Council of Ethiopia. There is however a rival claimant in the form of Girma Yohannis Iyasu the grandson of Emperor Iyasu V.

[edit] Biography

He attended and graduated from Eton College and Cambridge University. He was named "Acting Crown Prince" and Heir Presumptive to the Imperial throne of Ethiopia in 1974 by his grandfather, Emperor Haile Selassie, following his father's severe stroke a year earlier. He was named Heir Apparent by his father Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen, when the Crown Prince assumed the title of Emperor Amha Selassie in exile in April of 1989.

Following the fall of the Ethiopian monarchy, Prince Zera Yacob completed his studies at Cambridge in the mid-seventies and went on to briefly work as a banker in the United States. He then returned to London to be closer to his parents. He was married and had a daughter, Princess Lideta Zera Yacob, but was subsequently divorced from his wife. He briefly accompanied his father Emperor Amha Selassie when he moved to Virginia in 1989, but later returned to England and resided for a time in Manchester. He has since returned to Ethiopia permanently.

Prince Zera Yacob has been regarded as head of the Imperial Family of Ethiopia since the death of his father in February 1997.

[edit] Charity

Prince Zera Yacob is the sovereign of the Imperial Ethiopian Order of Saint Mary of Zion and bestows awards to individuals for their outstanding service of assistance to the people of Ethiopia.