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The Death of the Prince Imperial

In the summer of 1879 the much-loved son of the Emperor Napoleon III went out with the British army to fight against the Zulus. Ambushed outside a Zulu kraal, the Prince Imperial, heir to the throne of France, was hacked to death by Zulu assegai. The man court-martialled for allowing this atrocity was a Lieutenant Carey. Victorian England was shocked by the death and even more so by the establishment's attempt to make Carey a scapegoat. The precise events leading up to that fatal day are re-told at the very place in Zululand and the transcript of the court martial, only recently available to the public, is used to dramatise extracts from the trial - and reveal the dramatic outcome. Re-aired 10 December 1980

English
  • Originally Aired May 4, 1979
  • Runtime 50 minutes
  • Network BBC Two
  • Created November 25, 2013 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified February 18, 2022 by
    frizzlebiscuit