Produced by Serena, Education Administration Apprentice in the School of Oncology
For the third week’s edition, I introduce you to Nurse Ademola.
During wartime, it was not uncommon for royalty to lend their helping hand and step down from their royal duties. Nurse Ademola was a princess – Princess Omo-Oba Adenrele Ademola to be exact.
When I did my research and came across this young lady, I was surprised and in awe. Her father, prominent King in the southern region of Nigeria sent the Princess to school in Somerset in 1936, and from there she started a career in nursing. Ademola had to balance both her duties as a nurse and as a royal; at times she attended and conducted royal events, she may have even been present at the coronation of George VI.
We are unsure of the exact experiences of Princess Ademola as the archives are lost. A propaganda film, called ‘Nurse Ademola’, was made through the Colonial Film Unit to promote “colonial development and generate support for the imperial war effort”. The mysterious erasure of the film symbolises the disregard of Black women from the historical narrative, particularly Black African women and even royalty!
Nurse Ademola needs to be recognised for coming over to the UK and facing social, political and racial turmoil, despite her status as a royal. What is most interesting about Ademola’s story is that it prompts people to think about the history of royalty in West Africa, especially before colonialism.