Zera Yacob Amha Selassie

Zera Yacob Amha Selassie (Geʽez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ አምሃ ሥላሴ; born 17 August 1953) is the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie and son of Amha Selassie of the Ethiopian Empire.

After the fall of the Ethiopian monarchy, Zera Yacob completed his studies at Oxford in the 1970s and worked briefly as a banker in the United States.

He then moved to London and was married to Princess Nunu (née Getaneh), and later divorced.

The marriage produced a daughter, Princess Lideta.

He was designated as "acting crown prince" and heir presumptive in 1974 by the Emperor Haile Selassie I close to the end of his reign; however, the Empire was overthrown in the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution by the Derg.

As a result, Yacob never became a ruling Emperor of Ethiopia.

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 stroke a year earlier.

He was named heir apparent by his father, who assumed the title of Emperor-in-exile at that time in April 1989 in London.

Ethiopia became a Federal Democratic Republic in 1991.

Zera Yacob attended Eton College and graduated from Exeter College, Oxford and Sandhurst.

In 1992 he accompanied his father Amha Selassie to Virginia, United States, where his father had a medical check-up.

However, his father suffered a stroke and Zera Yacob stayed for two years.

He has been head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia since 17 February 1997 as recognized by the Crown Council of Ethiopia.

He then applied for a visa following his father's death in 1997.

He had returned to London, England, where he had settled in a modest home on the Isle of Dogs.

Yacob has been the Executive Director of the Ethiopian Peace Foundation (EPF) since 2002.

Crown Prince Zera Yacob is regarded as head of the Imperial Family of Ethiopia.

He lives in Addis Ababa.

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

Honours Yacob has received include: