Check out Princess Sarah Culberson’s feature on Access Hollywood where she discusses the steps she took to find her birth family, her first trip to Sierra Leone, and what it really means to be a princess.
Sarah was adopted when she was a baby by a family in West Virginia. Throughout her childhood and into early adulthood, Sarah knew almost nothing about her birth family or her roots. As a young adult, Sarah had decided she wanted to find out where her story began. She was put in touch with a private investigator and three hours after first connecting, the P.I. had all the information Sarah needed. He advised Sarah to write a letter to her birth family and four days after sending, Sarah was contacted by her paternal aunt.
This was the phone call that changed Sarah’s life. Sarah’s aunt and uncle were the first glimpse Sarah had into her heritage. She found out from her uncle that her great grandfather and grandfather were both Paramount Chiefs, meaning they were royalty in their country. This meant Sarah is considered a princess in Sierra Leone and can also become Paramount Chief herself one day.
Six months after that first phone call, Sarah and her adopted family made the journey to Sierra Leone. Upon their arrival, Sarah’s father greeted her with a beautiful, green dress. He had told her he would love for her to wear it into their family’s village. Once Sarah arrived in the village, she was greeted by 100s of people, welcoming her dancing and singing in their native language, Mende, about how they had been preparing for Sarah’s arrival. All of the women wore the same green dress.
The first time Sarah visited Sierra Leone was two years following the Blood Diamond war, a civil war that lasted for 11 years. She knew her newfound royal status meant that she had to do something to help the people of her village. Discovering she was a princess changed the trajectory of Sarah’s life and meant she had new responsibilities she had never even thought about before. Together with her family, Sarah started the nonprofit organization, Sierra Leone Rising. The nonprofit works to provide public health, education, and female empowerment to the people of Sierra Leone.
Sarah also wrote a book, A Princess Found, which has been picked up by Disney and will be made into a feature film. As people began to hear Sarah’s story, they wanted to learn more. As of today, Sarah has made 150 billion media impressions and has appeared in articles written by NBC, Yahoo, Apple news, among many others.
Interested in hearing more about Princess Sarah’s story? Inquire within to see how you can book her for your next event today!
