Princess Seyyida Salme was the youngest child of Sultan Seyyid Said. She was brought up in the palace Beit-el-Sahel which was completely destroyed during Seyyid Khaled's usurpation of the throne in 1896.

The beautiful Princess Salme was very keen on learning about western cultures and she somehow managed to convince her father to permit her to take lessons in English. With her new acquired knowledge, she could easily communicate with the wives of western dignitaries, whose husbands came to greet the Sultan of Zanzibar - her father!

As she interacted more closely with her new found friends, the Princess came into contact with officers visiting or stationed on the islands, without her father's knowledge. Interestingly she developed an attraction for these officers!

She ultimately fell in love with a young German business representative from a Hamburg firm. This man was Wilhelm Ruete.

Because of her strict religious upbringing (Islamic), Salme was restricted (at the palace) from coming into contact with men, let alone western men. Her only alternative was to use the Royal household to deliver messages to Wilhelm.

As their affection for each other grew, it became more difficult for the Princess to conceal the truth from her loving father. A union between Salme, (coming from a Muslim Royal Family) and Wilhelm, a young German man would be totally unacceptable.

Her only way out of this impasse was to flea to Germany with Wilhelm. Their carefully planned escape somehow succeeded and they made their escape at night boarding a ship that was sailing for Germany.

Once in Germany, Salme married Wilhelm and adopted the name Frau Emily Ruete. Emily and Wilhelm had three children. Sadly, their life together was not to last long, as Wilhelm was tragically killed in an accident, not long after Salme came to this new land.

Luckily for all of us, Salme managed to write her memoirs which where later published and provided us with all the answers we were looking for.

Our beautiful princess was able to briefly revisit her beloved home(Zanzibar) twice - the first occassion was on August 12, 1885 with her three children on a German ship called the "Adler"(she was invited by Kaiser Wilhelm) and again in 1888(her last visit to Zanzibar).

Pricess Salme spent her last days on this earth in the foreign land she had now made her home - Germany. Her body was laid to rest in a cemetary in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf, where her in-laws were also laid to rest.