The emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie which means strength of the Trinity was visiting a church not far from Mulu and he sent a message that he would like to come to breakfast with us. This was very exciting as not many people can say they’ve had breakfast with an emperor, however my Mum was rather in a panic.. what does one feed an emperor for breakfast?
We decided to offer him porridge which we had everyday or bread which we made in our bread oven which was a longish tunnel of bricks with a charcoal fire burning along the length. You put the loaves on top of the burning charcoal and they rose with the yeast and Cooked slowly, you had to be careful not to burn the bread. When the loaves had risen and browned a bit it was ready to eat. We also gave him fresh fruit to eat.
He arrived with a big guard of local chiefs and drove up to our farm. We had his granddaughter Hannah staying with us.
When the emperor saw her he said, “Hello, what are you doing here” she replied “I am staying with Philippa” so I walked up to him and made my curtsy. He then went into the house and had breakfast.
Hannah and Stephen my brother waited on the lawn. When it was time for the emperor to go, there were hundreds of people waiting to see him, lined up along the road. As he got close the people bowed to the floor. We could see this happening for a long way down the road, a wave of people falling to their knees to greet this incredible man.