Princess Tenagnework would eventually marry Betwoded (later Ras) Andargachew Messai, who had formerly served as "Afe-Mesfin" and representative for the underage Prince Makonnen in his Duchy of Harar.

After the death of her mother, Empress Menen Asfaw in 1961, Princess Tenagnework became the most visible and foremost woman at the imperial court and played an ever-increasing advisory role to the monarch.

Princess Tenagnework and the rest of the imperial family were arrested on 11 September 1974, the day before Emperor Haile Selassie was formally deposed by the Derg.

After a brief time when the family were kept under house arrest at the home of the late Duke of Harar, they were then moved to the Akaki Prison, also known as "Alem Bekagn" which translates to "I have had enough of this world".

Princess Tenagnework’s husband, Ras Andargachew Messai (1902-1981), who had been outside Ethiopia when the monarchy fell, died after a long illness in London a few years later (16 August 1981).

After living in Addis Ababa quietly for a little over a year, Princess Tenagnework and a few of the other members of the imperial family were allowed to depart into exile.

Princess Tenagnework travelled to London and from there joined her only surviving brother, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC.

Princess Tenagnework settled in her second exile, in the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. to be near her only surviving sibling, Amha Selassie (Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen).

On 5 November 2000, Emperor Haile Selassie was reburied at Holy Trinity Cathedral with much pomp conducted by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.