Hi Ned. I've read your piece about the Sultan of Zanzibar with interest. You said you couldn't find anyone in Portsmouth who knew the Sultan was there. I was a child in Southsea in the 1960s, and much was the excitement in our local Girl Guide troupe when two new young ladies, sisters, joined us. It was quite a boast for us - 'their Dad is the Sultan of Zanzibar!' I remember the girls were pleasant and friendly but quite quiet. There was something beautiful and different about them in the monocultural Portsmouth of that time. I wish I could remember their names.
Hi Ned, I was born in Victoria Grove, Southsea, and the Sultan of Zanzibar lived in the house opposite. It was a quiet street of big, shabby genteel houses, very typical of Southsea at that time. I remember him as a friendly, smiley man who would always stop for a word.
We lived with my grandparents, and my grandfather found having the Sultan as a near neighbour very amusing, and enjoyed tongue in cheek name dropping “.....as I was saying to my friend the Sultan the other day”! I think they used to talk about gardening.
Their house always seemed full of children and beautifully dressed women, and the Sultan was often out and about. I never saw him with a bodyguard, I think he lived very happily as a private individual. I suspect life in Southsea was probably much easier than being a Sultan.
Hi Ned. I've read your piece about the Sultan of Zanzibar with interest. You said you couldn't find anyone in Portsmouth who knew the Sultan was there. I was a child in Southsea in the 1960s, and much was the excitement in our local Girl Guide troupe when two new young ladies, sisters, joined us. It was quite a boast for us - 'their Dad is the Sultan of Zanzibar!' I remember the girls were pleasant and friendly but quite quiet. There was something beautiful and different about them in the monocultural Portsmouth of that time. I wish I could remember their names.
Ned great article. What is your source for the failed driving test and do you have any info on how he remarried?
Hi Ned, I was born in Victoria Grove, Southsea, and the Sultan of Zanzibar lived in the house opposite. It was a quiet street of big, shabby genteel houses, very typical of Southsea at that time. I remember him as a friendly, smiley man who would always stop for a word.
We lived with my grandparents, and my grandfather found having the Sultan as a near neighbour very amusing, and enjoyed tongue in cheek name dropping “.....as I was saying to my friend the Sultan the other day”! I think they used to talk about gardening.
Their house always seemed full of children and beautifully dressed women, and the Sultan was often out and about. I never saw him with a bodyguard, I think he lived very happily as a private individual. I suspect life in Southsea was probably much easier than being a Sultan.