About An African Princess Sara

Sara Forbes Bonetta's life story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Born into a life of privilege and luxury in Dahomey, she was forcibly taken as a slave at the age of eight and faced an uncertain and likely deadly fate in her captors' land. But a stroke of fate saw her taken in by Captain Forbes, who saw her as more than just a slave and instead raised her as his own child.

Renamed as Sara Forbes Bonetta, she became the goddaughter of Queen Victoria, who was impressed by her exceptional intelligence. Sara was sent to school in Africa and eventually returned to England, where she married Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies and had three children. She remained close to Queen Victoria throughout her life, even being given standing orders to evacuate in the event of an uprising in Lagos.

Despite her many accomplishments, Sara's life was tragically cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 37, leaving behind a grieving husband and children. Her husband erected a monument in her memory, honoring her as a princess and a woman of great courage and resilience. Sara's life stands as a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of love and kindness to overcome even the most difficult of circumstances.