A recently-discovered archive of fashion, photographs and letters relating to the tragic Queen Ranavalona III was recently unearthed by a British family during a house move.
Queen Ranavalona III
In 1895 France invaded and annexed the island of Madagascar, abolished the monarchy and in 1897 Queen Ranavalona III was sent into exile to the island of Réunion. She was accompanied by her close family and a handful of servants including her loyal paid companion – Miss Clara Herbert. A devout protestant, Miss Herbert (b.1871) was a descendent of the Herberts of Muckross House, Co. Kerry, Ireland. A lady of genteel upbringing, but little money, she was a talented linguist and sought employment as a paid companion. Clara was fluent in French, Malagasy and seven Chinese dialects. According to her family she worked for the Madagascan Royal family from the late 1890s until the early 1920s, accompanying them through their trials, tribulations and adventures.
Left: Clara Herbert
Right: Part of lot 51, fashion, photos and ephemera relating to the Queen of Madagascar – Ranavalona III and Princess Ramisindrazana, 1897-1924, estimate £600-1,000
The archive so carefully compiled and preserved by Miss Herbert gives a glimpse into the lives of the Queen and the women who surrounded her and includes poignant images of Ranavalona, seated regally on her throne in Madagascar during the last days of her reign. Her crown (presumably seized as booty by the French) is now in the Musée de l’Armée, Paris. Photographed in Réunion in the early days of her captivity, she looks thin, downcast and stands outside a palatial wooden villa with her mother and influential aunt – Princess Ramisindrazana and nephew (in the bowler hat), Prince Rakotomena.
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