Captain Speedy’s ward

SIR – The wonderful photograph that you printed (Letters, April 10) of young Prince Alamayou of Abyssinia, taken by Julia Margaret Cameron on the Isle of Wight, reflects a complex story.

The prince was rescued, supposedly on the battlefield, by his guardian Captain Tristram Speedy (above), who, as it happens, looked like Sir Henry Rawlinson as imagined by Vivian Stanshall.

Alamayou became a protégé of Queen Victoria and, while at Osborne House, also spent some time with the Tennyson family. Over at Dimbola Lodge, where Mrs Cameron lived, she photographed him in tribal costume, and with Ethiopian artefacts.

The prince died aged 18, and was buried in the grounds of Windsor Castle, otherwise restricted to the Royal family. His story is part of the rich multicultural tapestry of Victorian society.

Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight