[2] After his father was deposed in a later coup, he was proclaimed King (not Emperor) in absentia by the Derg on 12 September 1974[3] in an act which he never accepted as legitimate and that ended in the abolition of the Ethiopian monarchy on 21 March 1975.

However, the regular Army, led by Dejazmach Asrate Medhin Kassa and Chief of Staff, Major General Mared Mangesha, spent the following day gaining control of other military formations, as well as the Air Force; later that day Patriarch Abuna Basilios of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, issued an anathema against all those who cooperated with the rebels.

[6] Although it was alleged that the Crown Prince had acted under duress, his outlook had long been regarded as considerably more liberal than that of his father, and so he would always be suspected of having been a willing participant in the coup attempt.

"[7][8] At the age of 58 in late 1972, after his father Emperor Haile Selassie blamed him for hiding the realities of the famine in the region which he presided over as Duke (Wollo) from him, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen suffered a massive stroke and was evacuated for medical treatment to London[9] and Switzerland.

[11] The so-called "short reign" of Amha Selassie in 1974 was in name only between the dethronement of his father on 12 September 1974 until the abolition of the monarchy in March 1975.

The statement was issued in the name of "Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen" which indicated that he did not recognize the Derg's declaration of him as monarch in his father's place.

[citation needed] On 12 September 1974, the Derg military junta deposed Emperor Haile Selassie and declared that Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen would be anointed "King" upon his return from medical treatment in Geneva, Switzerland.

[citation needed] The Derg replied that he should be received as a simple citizen of Ethiopia and that no royal dignities were to be accorded to the prince or his family.

The revolutionaries soon abolished the monarchy in March 1975, and crown prince Asfaw Wossen settled permanently in London, where several other members of the imperial family were already based.

A year later, the emperor- and empress-in-exile moved to McLean, Virginia, USA to be close to the large Ethiopian immigrant population in and around Washington, D.C.

Dennis Wolf, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in London explained that Zera-Jakob had failed to convince the authorities that he had a residence outside the USA – despite having housing in the UK.

[12] After this, arrangements were made for Amha Selassie's body which was flown back to Ethiopia and buried in the Imperial family vaults at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa in a large ceremonial funeral presided over by Patriarch Abune Paulos.