The petite, curly-haired princess of Ethiopia is a mortgage loan officer who commutes 40 minutes a day, does her own dishes and shops for sales on twin sets at Tysons Corner Center.
“I don’t have bodyguards clearing traffic or tailors stitching my clothes. This is America,” says Saba Kebede of McLean, who laughed and looked at her husband, Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie, the grandson of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
A new kind of fairy tale
“Wait! Please, don’t sit there,” the priest calls out. “Come to the front of the table. You can’t just sit anywhere. You’re very famous.”
Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie, the grandson of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. (photo: Washingtonpost)
Outside the church, the Selassies seem like any other Washington area family. The prince works at the International Strategic Studies Association, a think tank in Alexandria focusing on issues such as water security in Africa. The princess spends her days approving mortgage loans for the Congressional Federal Credit Union.
But royals are becoming increasingly important to the Ethiopian community, which sees its history in the face of Prince Selassie. There is a growing movement among the younger generation to honor the controversial legacy of the prince’s grandfather. Read More on WashingtoPost.com
