Lee Boo

Prince Lee Boo was the second son of Ibedul, the ruler of Koror in the Pelew Islands, now called Palau. Prince Lee Boo was one of the first people from the Pacific Islands to visit Great Britain. When the China trader Antelope, on a voyage to China for the East Indian Company, was wrecked on the island of Oroolong in Western Palau in 1783, its survivors, including Captain Henry Wilson, spent three months on Palau. When the survivors were finally rescued, Captain Wilson agreed to take Lee Boo to London to acquire more knowledge about Europe. He arrived about a decade after the Tahitian Omai, on 14 July 1784, in Portsmouth, aboard the Morse, and was quickly dubbed "The Black Prince" by London society, who were charmed by his poise and intelligence. The Wilson family took him into their home in London, where he attended church ceremonies, dinner parties and European school for several months. However, he died of smallpox on 27 December 1784, some six months after his arrival in London. He was 20 years old.