There is, as pointed out by John Ross, a suggestion that Queen Victoria recorded a message, on disc, for the King of Ethiopia and it was destroyed according to her wishes after it was played to the King. No copies have so far surfaced, nor remnants of the original.
I believe the recording was on a cylinder. If memory serves, King Menelik (sp?) and his Queen sent responses on cylinder - these recordings have been preserved and were transferred a few years ago by Joe Pengelly.
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