Princess Aida Desta (8 April 1927 – 15 January 2013), baptismal name Bisrate Gabriel, was the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie, eldest child and daughter of Ras Desta Damtew and Princess Tenagnework. She was the wife of Leul Ras Mangasha Seyum, Prince of Tigray, son of Seyum Mangasha, and great-grandson of Emperor Yohannes IV. Her godmother was Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia. Biography The young Princess accompanied her mother, siblings, and grandparents into exile in 1936 upon the occupation of Ethiopia by fascist Italy. Her father Ras Desta Damtew however led the resistance forces in southern Ethiopia for some months, until he was captured by the Italians and executed in 1937. Princess Aida and her three sisters were educated at Clarendon School for Girls in north Wales. She continued her studies at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, where she studied history, matriculating in 1945. Princess Aida later returned to Ethiopia and married Leul Ras Mengesha Seyoum (Prince of Tigray) in Addis Ababa, in January 1949. They would go on to have five sons and a daughter. Woizero Ribka Mengesha Lij Mikael Sehul Mengesha (born 1950) Lij Yohannes Mengesha (born 27 July 1951) Lij Estifanos Mengesha (born 24 October 1952) Lij Jalyee Mengesha (born 1955) Lij Seyoum Mengesha (born 1957) Woizero Menen Mengesha (born 1962) Princess Aida was active in charitable and cultural pursuits in Ethiopia during the reign of her grandfather Emperor Haile Selassie. In 1974, Princess Aida was seized at the palace at Mekele by revolutionary soldiers sent to arrest her husband. Ras Mangasha had escaped days earlier and would establish the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) which would fight the Derg regime until the EDU fractured in 1977 between rival factions. Princess Aida however had decided to remain behind and share the fate of her grandfather, her mother, and her family. Princess Aida was among the women of the Imperial family who were incarcerated under the Derg for 14 years. Her brother Prince Rear Admiral Iskinder Desta was executed along with 62 other former officials on Friday November 23, 1974. Together with her mother Princess Tenagnework Haile Selassie, and her sisters Princesses Seble, Sophia and Hirut, were Princess Sara Gizaw, Duchess of Harar (Widow of Prince Makonnen Haile Selasssie), Princess Yeshashework Yilma (the Emperor's niece by his elder brother), Princess Ijigayehu Asfaw Wossen (daughter of the Crown Prince) and Princess Zuriashwork Gebre-Igziabiher (widow of Prince Asrate Kassa). These women