Bokassa, The Last African Emperor Part 1

On the 4th of December 1977, in the capital city of Bangui, in the Central African Republic, a man placed a crown on his own head and declared himself Emperor of Central Africa.

So his crown was made in Paris, very heavy gold crown, encrusted with diamonds, the largest of which In the center was 80 carats.

The crown alone cost $2.5 million.

He had a throne, a court, a crown prince, an imperial march, a royal carriage, and 60 brand new Mercedes-Benzes ferried in from Germany to drive his guests around the city.

And these guys are on chat.

The throne he sat on as emperor was also made in Paris.

30 craftsmen built it in a workshop in Normandy, that's France, over several months.

Another $25 million.

So his robes were made by the same firm that made Napoleon's uniform 200 years earlier.

The food at the banquets was flown in from Europe.

240 tons of food.

French chefs don't cash out.

This coronation cost $22 million in total.

And to put that in context, in Central African Republic, that was more than one quarter of their entire annual budget.

When it was all over, when he had put the crown on his head, cannon that we fired, they've danced, fireworks had lit up the sky, he leaned over to the French minister sitting next to him and whispered, you never noticed, but you ate human flesh.

His name was Jean Bedel Bokassa.

And in this episode, we're going to discuss Bokassa, the last African emperor.

A coronation funded by France.

A story that begins in like a colonial town square and ends telling you about race and power and how we decide who gets to tell our stories.