The African Kingdom of Gold

By Barnaby Phillips

by Simon Webb 24th April 2026

It sounds like a dark fairy tale written by Oscar Wilde. 

Once there was a king who lived in a palace full of gold. Strangers were dazzled when they came to visit. But they grew jealous, came in force, scared the king away, took all the gold, and burned the palace. The king and his people were very sad: the palace and the gold that had been taken was very precious to them. But the strangers, really nothing more than thieves, came again and again, and took whatever they could find.