Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, Queen of Prussia

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, Queen of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern was the wife of King Friedrich II of Prussia (Friedrich the Great) and the longest-serving Queen of Prussia, from 1740 until her husband died in 1786. She was born November 8, 1715, at Schloss Bevern, in Wolfenbüttel, Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, the daughter of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Elisabeth Christine had 12 siblings:

King Friedrich II of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 12, 1733, at her father’s summer residence, Schloss Salzdahlum in Wolfenbüttel, Elisabeth Christine married Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia. The marriage had been arranged between the groom’s father, King Friedrich Wilhelm I in Prussia, and the bride’s uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Friedrich and Elisabeth Christine had no children and lived separate lives until their deaths.

The couple had little in common, and Friedrich resented the arranged marriage. The couple first lived at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin, where Elisabeth Christine was particularly close to her father-in-law who was quite fond of her. In 1736, the couple moved to Rheinsberg Palace, where for the first time, her husband was able to maintain his own court. For the next four years, the couple enjoyed as normal a married life as could be expected, and she recalled these years as the “happiest of her life”.

It all changed in May 1740, when her father-in-law died and her husband succeeded him as King of Prussia. The new King and Queen began to live separately. Elisabeth Christine was given Schönhausen Palace and apartments at the Berlin Stadtschloss, both in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia now in the German state of Brandenburg, and presided over her own quite large court, while Friedrich lived primarily in Potsdam. Despite their separation, the new King understood the importance of court life and ensured that Elisabeth Christine had a very prominent and official role. While the King rarely attended any court functions, the Queen was always there, often representing him, even at his own birthday celebrations.

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, Queen of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Beloved by the people of Prussia, Elisabeth Christine became a symbol of strength during the Seven Years’ War, overseeing the evacuation of the royal court to Magdeburg in 1757. Her charity works further endeared her to the Prussian people. She donated the majority of her allowance to charitable causes each year. She was also responsible for bringing silk cultivation to Prussia and published several translations under a pseudonym.

Widowed in 1786, as the Dowager Queen, Elisabeth Christine continued to have a very prominent role at court and was often consulted on etiquette and court life. Despite her husband’s indifference during their marriage, she was also well provided for in his will, receiving an increase in her allowance, residence at any of the royal palaces of her choice, and the distinct order that she always be treated with the utmost respect due to her as Queen.

Eleven years later, on January 13, 1797, Dowager Queen Elisabeth Christine died at the Stadtschloss in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, and was buried at the Berlin Cathedral.

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Prussia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Kingdom of Prussia: The Protestant Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern ruled as Margraves of Brandenburg, Dukes of Prussia, Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia from 1415 until 1918. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich III, Duke of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. In the aftermath of World War I, Prussia had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia abdicated on November 9, 1918.

The Kingdom of Prussia had territory that today is part of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. All or parts of the following states of today’s Germany were part of the Kingdom of Prussia: Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein.

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Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia

Friedrich Wilhelm I was the second King in Prussia, reigning from 1713 until 1740. He was born at the Berlin City Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg, on August 14, 1688, to Friedrich I, King in Prussia and his second wife, Sophie Charlotte of Hanover. He had one older brother:

  • Prince Friedrich August (1685-1686) – died in infancy

Friedrich Wilhelm also had one half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel:

Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, c1701. source: Wikipedia

For the first few years of his life, he was raised in Hanover, at the court of his grandmother, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, along with his cousins – his future wife, Sophie Dorothea of Hanover, and her brother, the future King George II of Great Britain. He returned to Berlin in 1692 and was educated by a Huguenot governess who did not speak German. At just six years old, he was given command of his own infantry regiment, and at eight years old, began to study under the direction of a Prussian general. However, his mother soon intervened because he could neither read nor write by the age of nine. A new Huguenot tutor was brought in to teach him. From a very young age, Friedrich Wilhelm developed a strong sense of thrift and a love for all things related to the military. For his tenth birthday, he was given his own estate at Wusterhausen where he learned the basic fundamentals of economics and management, both skills which would serve him well during his reign.

Sophie Dorothea of Hanover. source: Wikipedia

On November 28, 1706, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm married his first cousin, Princess Sophie Dorothea of Hanover. She was the daughter of the future King George I of Great Britain and Sophie Dorothea of Celle. Despite a relatively unhappy marriage, the couple had 14 children:

Friedrich Wilhelm came to the Prussian throne upon his father’s death in 1713. Unlike his father who viewed the treasury as his own money and lived a lavish lifestyle, the new king chose to go the opposite direction. He sold many of his father’s possessions and lived an austere life. While his father was focused more on his personal enjoyment, Friedrich Wilhelm focused on strengthening Prussia, particularly the economy and the military. He was involved in every detail of the management of the Kingdom, even personally establishing guidelines for all state officials to ensure that everyone was doing their jobs to the fullest extent. He promoted farming throughout Prussia and encouraged the farmers to plan accordingly for the possibility of lean years. He also focused greatly on the military – reforming their training and tactics and leaving the Prussian army as one of the most powerful in Europe.

A devout Calvinist, Friedrich Wilhelm invited the Salzburg Protestants to settle in East Prussia when they were permitted to emigrate from Salzburg to a Protestant state. He ensured that they made their way safely, and personally greeted the first group.

Garrison Church, Potsdam. source: Wikipedia

King Friedrich Wilhelm I died at the Potsdam City Palace in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg on May 31, 1740, and was interred at the Garrison Church in Potsdam. During World War I, his coffin was moved for safekeeping, first to Berlin and then to a salt mine near Berterode. After being recovered by American forces, he was re-interred at St. Elisabeth’s Church in Marburg, Germany in 1946. His coffin was moved again in 1953 to Hohenzollern Castle, and in 1991 his coffin was placed on the steps of the altar in the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum at the Church of Peace in Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany.

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Prussia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Queen in Prussia

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Queen in Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the third wife of Friedrich I, King in Prussia. She was born at Grabow Castle in Grabow, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on May 6, 1685, the only daughter of Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow and Christine Wilhelmine of Hesse-Homburg. Sophie Luise had three older brothers:

Friedrich I, King in Prussia. source: Wikipedia

In Berlin on November 28, 1708, Sophie Luise married Friedrich I, King in Prussia, as his third wife. The couple had no children. Being so much younger than her husband, and close in age to his children, Sophie struggled to find acceptance at the Prussian court. It did not help that her predecessor Sophie Charlotte of Hanover was greatly loved and admired by the Prussian people, and many saw Sophie Luise as a poor replacement. The King surrounded her with courtiers who did not serve her best interests, and she avoided them as best she could, instead of spending most of her time with the lady-in-waiting who had accompanied her from Mecklenburg.

Over time, Sophie Luise became deeply religious, spending the majority of her time in prayer and listening to sermons, and often avoiding her duties as Queen Consort. As time progressed, her devotion became almost obsessive and manic. This caused distance between her and her husband, particularly because of her overzealous attempts to get him to convert from Calvinism to Lutheranism. This led to her husband Friedrich removing her closest confidantes and courtiers, and soon Sophie Luise became even more deeply entrenched in what is described as her obsession with religion, resulting in depression and mental derangement.

Friedrich was mostly unaware of Sophie Luise’s mental decline, until several months before his own death. Deeply ill, he awoke to find his wife standing before him, covered in blood and screaming at him. She had crashed through a glass door while running from her apartments to his, apparently to confront him in a fit of hysteria. Sophie Luise had no recollection of the event afterward, and Friedrich soon sent her back to Mecklenburg to be with her family. He would die just months later in 1713.

Sophie Luise, Queen in Prussia, lived the rest of her life with her widowed mother and died on July 29, 1735, at Schwerin Castle in Mecklenburg, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She is buried in the Schelfkirche St. Nikolai in Schwerin.

Sophienkirche, Berlin. photo: By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25766110

The Sophienkirche in Berlin is named for Sophie Luise. Construction began during the reign of her husband Friedrich I, but he died just months before it was completed in 1713. His successor Friedrich Wilhelm I, the son of his second wife Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, refused to name the church after his stepmother Sophie Luise as had been intended, consecrating it as the Spandauischekirche (Spandau Church). Later, when Friedrich Wilhelm I’s son  Friedrich II (the Great) came to the throne, he renamed it the Sophienkirche (Sophie Church), which remains the name to this day.

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Prussia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Charlotte of Hanover was the second wife of King Friedrich I in Prussia, and the first Queen in Prussia. She was born at Iburg Castle in Osnabrück, Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, later in the Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, on October 30, 1668, the only daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate. Her mother was named heiress-presumptive to the British throne under the Act of Settlement 1701, and it would be Sophie Charlotte’s eldest brother who would become King George I of Great Britain in 1714. She had six brothers:

Raised initially at Iburg Castle, the family moved to Osnabrück Castle in 1673 and later to Hanover in 1679. Given a well-rounded education, she was proposed as a potential bride for Louis, the Grand Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XIV, and considered as a bride for King Louis XIV following the death of his wife in 1683. Neither of these alliances panned out.

Friedrich I, King in Prussia. source: Wikipedia

Instead, on October 8, 1684, she married Friedrich of Hohenzollern, the future King Friedrich I in Prussia. He was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg and Luise Henriette of Orange-Nassau. Friedrich had been widowed in 1683 and had one young daughter. Sophie Charlotte and Friedrich had two sons:

Upon marriage, Sophie Charlotte became Electress of Brandenburg, and would later become the first Queen in Prussia in 1701. The marriage, arranged purely for political purposes, was not a happy one. Several years after giving birth to her children, Sophie Charlotte retired to private life. In 1696, she had received an estate, Lietzow just outside of Berlin, and soon began construction on a summer residence. The new home, called Lietzenburg, was completed in July 1699, and became Sophie Charlotte’s primary residence. Here, she lived separately from her husband and maintained her own court. After her husband became King in Prussia in 1701, the residence was expanded, with new wings and courtyards, becoming the palace that exists today. Following Sophie Charlotte’s death, her husband renamed the palace in her honor – Charlottenburg Palace.

Charlottenburg Palace. source: Wikipedia

At Lietzenburg, the Electress of Brandenburg and then the Queen of Prussia indulged in her love of the arts, philosophy, and theology. She surrounded herself with some of the leading minds of the day, including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a prominent German mathematician and philosopher she had known since childhood. With Leibniz, she was instrumental in the founding of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

Sadly, at just 36 years of age, Sophie Charlotte died of pneumonia on January 21, 1705, while visiting her mother in the Electorate of Hanover. She was buried in the crypt at the Berlin Cathedral in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany.

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Prussia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Elizabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel, Electoral Princess of Brandenburg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Elizabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel, Electoral Princess of Brandenburg – source: Wikipedia

Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel was the first wife of the future Friedrich I, King in Prussia. She was born in Kassel on November 18, 1661, the youngest child of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg. Elisabeth Henriette had six older siblings:

Friedrich, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg (future King in Prussia). source: Wikipedia

On August 13, 1679, in Berlin, Elisabeth Henriette married Friedrich, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg. The two were first cousins and had known each other for most of their lives. I Elisabeth Henriette’s mother encouraged and promoted the marriage, which was a love match. They became officially engaged in 1676 but had secretly been engaged three years earlier. Following their marriage, they took up residence at Köpenick Palace in Berlin, and had one daughter:

Köpenick Palace. photo: By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33316525

Sadly, Elisabeth Henriette contracted smallpox and died on July 7, 1683, just weeks before her 4th wedding anniversary.  She is buried at Berlin Cathedral. Eighteen years later, in 1701, her husband would become King in Prussia, reigning until he died in 1713.

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Friedrich I, King in Prussia

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Kingdom of Prussia: The Protestant Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern ruled as Margraves of Brandenburg, Dukes of Prussia, Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia from 1415 until 1918. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich III, Duke of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. In the aftermath of World War I, Prussia had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia abdicated on November 9, 1918.

The Kingdom of Prussia had territory that today is part of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. All or parts of the following states of today’s Germany were part of the Kingdom of Prussia: Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein.

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Friedrich I, King in Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich I was the founder of the Kingdom of Prussia and its first King, reigning from 1701 until 1713. He was born on July 11, 1657, at Königsberg Castle in Königsberg, Electorate of Brandenburg, now Kaliningrad, Russia,  the third son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg and Countess Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau. Friedrich had five siblings:

  • Wilhelm Heinrich, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg (1648-1649) – died in infancy
  • Karl Emil, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg (1655-1674) – unmarried
  • Amalia (1664-1665) – died in childhood
  • Heinrich (born and died 1664) – died in infancy
  • Ludwig (16661687) – married Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, no issue

He also had seven half-siblings from his father’s second marriage, to Sophie Dorothea of Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg:

While still an infant, Friedrich’s shoulder was injured when his nurse accidentally dropped him. This physical impairment caused him problems for the rest of his life but also resulted in being particularly doted upon by his mother. His formal education began in 1662, under the supervision of Otto von Schwerin, First Minister of Brandenburg. Friedrich studied religion, history, and geography, and learned French, Polish, and Latin. As a younger son, he was not expected to succeed as the Elector, so in 1664, his father gave him the Principality of Halberstadt. In 1670, he was appointed Captain of a cavalry unit but did not actually serve due to his shoulder injury. Four years later, in 1674, his older brother Karl Emil died, and Friedrich became the heir.

Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel. source: Wikipedia

Friedrich married three times. On August 13, 1679, he married Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg. Soon after their marriage, they took up residence at Schloss Köpenick in Berlin. Elisabeth Henriette died of smallpox four years later, but the couple did have one daughter:

Sophie Charlotte of Hanover. source: Wikipedia

On October 8, 1684, Friedrich married Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate. The couple had two sons:

Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. source: Wikipedia

Three years after his second wife died, Friedrich married for the third time. His bride was Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow and Christine Wilhelmine of Hesse-Homburg. They had no children.

Upon his father’s death in April 1688, Friedrich succeeded him as Friedrich III, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia. The Electorate was part of the Holy Roman Empire, while the Duchy of Prussia, formerly a fief of the Crown of Poland, lay outside the Empire’s borders. The Duchy had been inherited by the Hohenzollern prince-electors of Brandenburg in 1618 and was ruled in personal union. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. However, there were several concessions. Because the Hohenzollerns’ sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia was dependent upon succession in the male line, it would return to the Polish crown if there were no male heirs to succeed. Friedrich also had to agree to style himself King IN Prussia and pay large amounts of money to the Holy Roman Emperor and the German clergy.

The coronation of Friedrich I, King in Prussia. source: Wikipedia

On January 18, 1701, Friedrich crowned himself King (as Friedrich I) in the castle church at Königsberg Castle. He also remained Elector of Brandenburg and added several other titles over the next few years. In 1702, he inherited the counties of Lingen and Moers following the death of King William III of England (later incorporated into the County of Tecklenburg) and was elected Prince of Neuchâtel in 1707, which was recognized by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. He and his heirs bore the title ‘Sovereign Prince of Orange, Neuchâtel, and Valangin’.  A huge supporter of the arts and education, Friedrich founded the Academy of Arts in 1696 and the Academy of Sciences in 1700.

King Friedrich I was in ill health for some time. He died in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, on February 25, 1713, and was buried at the Berliner Dom in Berlin. His son, Friedrich Wilhelm I succeeded him.

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Prussia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Louis Napoleon, Prince Imperial

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Louis Napoleon, Prince Imperial; Credit – Wikipedia

Born in Paris, France on March 16, 1856, Napoleon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte was the only child of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French and Eugénie de Montijo. Heir to the throne of the French Empire, from birth he was styled His Imperial Highness The Prince Imperial of France. His parents called him Louis. Louis’s father was born Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (known as Prince Louis-Napoleon of France), the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland (younger brother of Emperor Napoleon I) and Hortense de Beauharnais (daughter of Emperor Napoleon I’s first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais from her first marriage). Louis’ mother came from the Spanish nobility.

Napoleon III and Eugenie with their son Louis; Credit – Wikipedia

Eight years before the birth of Louis, the French Revolution of 1848 had led to the abdication of Louis-Philippe, King of the French and the Second Republic. Louis’ father Louis-Napoleon was elected to the French National Assembly and the country prepared to elect the first President of the French Republic. Louis-Napoleon immediately threw his hat into the ring, and on December 20, 1848, was declared the winner of the election. Taking the title Prince-President, Louis-Napoleon took up residence at the Élysée Palace in Paris. 

After a failed attempt to change the law which would have required him to step down at the end of his four-year term, Louis-Napoleon soon saw a chance to take power by force. Quickly overpowering his opponents, Louis-Napoleon established himself as the sole ruler within France, supported by a referendum held in December 1851. Not content with being simply a Prince-President, Louis-Napoleon arranged for the Senate to schedule another referendum to decide if he should be declared Emperor. On December 2, 1852, following an overwhelming vote in his favor, the Second Republic ended and the Second French Empire was declared. Louis-Napoleon took the throne as Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. He would be the last monarch of France.

Louis was first under the supervision of Miss Shaw, his English nurse who was recommended by Queen Victoria and taught him English from an early age. In 1867, a household was set up for Louis supervised by General Auguste Frossard as his governor, with Augustin Filon as his tutor and Xavier Uhlmann as his valet. However, Louis’ life drastically changed in 1870.

Louis in 1870; Credit – Wikipedia

In July 1870, France entered the Franco-Prussian War. Without significant allied support and with unprepared and limited forces, the French army was quickly defeated. Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan and quickly surrendered. The Third Republic was declared on September 4, 1870, ending – for the last time – the French monarchy. Napoleon III was held by the Prussians and was not released until March 1871 when peace was established between France and the new German Empire. Napoleon III, his wife, and son went into exile, arriving in England on March 20, 1871, and settling at Camden Place, a large country house in Chislehurst, Kent, England. Napoleon III died at Camden Place on January 9, 1873, at the age of 64. His son Louis was proclaimed Napoleon IV by the Bonapartists.

Camden Place, Louis’ family home in England; Credit – By Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37658334

After the death of his father, Louis and his mother remained in England. Louis attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and finished seventh in his class of thirty-four and was first in riding and fencing. However, he wanted to become an expert in artillery, the weaponry in which his great-uncle Napoleon Bonaparte began his military career and so he transferred to the Royal Horse Artillery at the Aldershot Garrison and attained the rank of Lieutenant in the British Army. Many Bonapartist supporters wanted Louis to leave the British Army and devote himself to his duties as the official Bonapartist pretender to the French throne but he preferred a military career. There were plans for Louis to marry a daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Empress Eugénie and Queen Victoria had their own plans to marry him to Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, but all the marriage plans came to naught.

In 1879, the Anglo-Zulu War started in Africa, and Louis wanted to take part. He was only allowed to do so after his mother approved and Queen Victoria intervened to get him a place in the British Army. Louis was to serve in reconnaissance and the British commanders were repeatedly told not to let him get into dangerous situations and provide him with a sufficiently large escort.

Louis in Africa in 1879; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 1, 1879, Louis participated in a reconnaissance mission. The nine-member patrol was on horseback and stopped at the edge of a river that was thought to be safe but they were surprised by forty Zulu warriors. Louis had not totally mounted his horse at the time of the attack and his frightened horse started to run off with Louis clinging to the saddle. Eventually, the saddle strap broke, Louis fell beneath his horse and his right arm was trampled. He jumped up and with his revolver in his left hand, started to run but the Zulus could run faster. The Zulus overtook him and mortally stabbed him eighteen times with their assegais, a pole weapon made of wood with an iron tip. Louis was just twenty-three years old.

Louis’s death caused an international sensation. In France, there were rumors that the British had intentionally disposed of Louis. Other rumors accused the French republicans and the Freemasons. One account even accused Queen Victoria of arranging the whole thing. Louis’ body was brought back to Royal Arsenal Woolwich on the banks of the River Thames in London. There he lay in state overnight in the riverfront guardhouse. The next day, the funeral procession, which included Queen Victoria, brought Louis’ remains to Chislehurst, his home in England, where he was buried at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church next to his father. Empress Eugénie decided to build a monastery and a chapel for the remains of Napoleon III and their son. In 1888, their remains were moved to the Imperial Crypt at St. Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. When Eugénie died in 1920 at the age of 94, she was buried with her husband and son.

Tomb of Louis Napoleon, Prince Imperial; Credit – Wikipedia

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Works Cited

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  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Napoléon, Prince Imperial. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on,_Prince_Imperial [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
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  • Mehl, S. (2016). Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/eugenie-de-montijo-empress-of-the-french/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
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Ferdinand-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Prince Royal, Prince of Orléans

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Ferdinand-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, Prince Royal, Prince of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Ferdinand Philippe of Orléans was born on September 3, 1810, at the Royal Palace in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, his mother’s birthplace, now in Italy.  Created Duke of Chartres at birth, he was the eldest of the ten children of Louis Philippe of Orléans, Duke of Orléans (the future Louis Philippe I, King of the French) and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, daughter of Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies and Maria Carolina of Austria. Louis Philippe of Orléans, Duke of Orléans was a descendant of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France, who was the founder of the House of Orléans.

Ferdinand had nine siblings:

Shortly after the onset of the French Revolution, Ferdinand’s father Louis Philippe fled the country to avoid likely execution, which would be the fate of his father and other members of the French royal family, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. He traveled extensively around Europe and spent several years in the United States. At the time of Ferdinand’s birth, Louis Philippe was still in exile, living in his wife’s native country.

Ferdinand and his mother; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1814, Napoleon I was overthrown, and the Bourbons were restored to the French throne. Louis Philippe and his family returned to France and were welcomed to the French court during the reign of King Louis XVIII, a brother of King Louis XVI. In France, Ferdinand’s education was entrusted to a tutor, M. de Boismilon. By age five, Ferdinand’s intellectual capabilities were quite advanced. He could speak and write in French and German, and started to study Latin, mathematics, and history. Ferdinand was enrolled at the College Henri-IV in Paris so that he would receive an education on par with other French boys. There he developed a lifelong friendship with Alfred de Musset who would become a great French dramatist, poet, and novelist. After a trip to England and Scotland, Ferdinand joined the 1st Hussars Regiment and went on to have a career in the military.

King Louis XVIII died in 1824, and was succeeded by his brother King Charles X. Louis Philippe’s relationship with Charles was closer than it had been with Louis XVIII but his liberal views were quite in contrast to the staunchly conservative Charles, and he was often viewed as a threat to the stability of the King’s reign. Ferdinand had been born “His Serene Highness” and in September 1824, King Charles X granted him the style “His Royal Highness”.

King Louis Philippe, Queen Marie Amelie, with their sons and daughters; Credit – Wikipedia

Finally, King Charles X’s ultra-royalist sympathies alienated many members of the working and middle classes. This led to the July Revolution of 1830. On August 2, 1830, King Charles X was forced to abdicate the French throne. He named his grandson Henri, Duke of Bordeaux as his successor. However, this did not sit well with Ferdinand’s father Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the Orléanist claimant to the French throne or the Chamber of Deputies who proclaimed Louis Philippe as the new monarch of France. Louis Philippe decided to style himself as King of the French, attributing his role as King of the French people instead of a territorial area. Ferdinand became the heir apparent to the French throne and received the title Prince Royal and the titles of Duke of Orléans and Prince of Orléans.

Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Ferdinand’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1837, Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Karoline Luise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, was chosen as a bride for Ferdinand. Helene was Protestant but she had some well-connected relatives that King Louis Philippe wanted to ally with, so her religion was overlooked. The main alliance would be with Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia, Helene’s first cousin once removed. She was also a cousin to Leopold I, King of the Belgians, and his sister The Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria. Other cousins included Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, wife of the future Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, and Wilhelm I, King of Württemberg. Helene’s family was against the marriage but she accepted the marriage proposal because she wanted to become a queen.

On May 30, 1837, Helene and Ferdinand were married at the Château de Fontainebleau. Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen, Archbishop of Paris forbade the marriage from taking place at the Notre Dame de Paris because of the couple’s religious differences. Ferdinand and Helene’s marriage was a happy one but Ferdinand’s mother opposed Helene as a Protestant and a liberal. Helene became popular with the publicwith her introduction of the German Christmas tree in France.

Ferdinand and Helene had two children:

Ferdinand with his Helene and their two sons; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinand was an enlightened patron of literature, music, and the fine arts. In his apartments at the Tuileries Palace, he collected objects from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, ceramics, furniture, and contemporary paintings. He was also a talented draftsman and engraver.

In July 1842, Ferdinand was scheduled to leave on a trip to review French troops. Before he left, he planned to travel from the Tuileries Palace in Paris to nearby Neuilly-sur-Seine where his wife and two sons were staying. On July 13, 1842, he left Paris in an open carriage. During the short trip, the horses became out of control and Ferdinand either jumped or was projected out of the carriage, resulting in a skull fracture. Despite the best care of the doctors, 31-year-old Ferdinand died a few hours later, surrounded by family members who had rushed to the scene.

Lithograph of the death of Ferdinand; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite the wishes of the government ministers that Ferdinand be buried at the Basilica of St. Denis, the traditional burial site of the Kings of France and the French royal family, Ferdinand’s parents opted to bury him at the Royal Chapel of Dreux in Dreux, France, the traditional burial place of members of the House of Orléans.

Ferdinand’s lifelong friend, the dramatist, poet, and novelist Alfred de Musset, wrote a poem about Ferdinand’s death Le Treize Juillet (The Thirteenth of July). Read the entire poem here.

The first stanza reads:

As much as grief grows old so far ’tis true.
But yesterday the prince was swept from sight;
He hardly sleeps the sleep of endless night;
The angel-wings that bore him through the air,
Close not; of him to speak too soon we dare.

In 1848, Ferdinand’s father Louis Philippe, King of the French lost his throne in the French Revolution of 1848. Afraid that he may be imprisoned and executed, he quickly left Paris with his family, including Helene and her two sons, and they went into exile in England. Helene survived her husband by sixteen years, dying from influenza on May 17, 1858, in Richmond-upon-Thames, London, England at the age of 44. Because Helene was Protestant, she could not be buried in the Catholic Royal Chapel of Dreux. To solve that problem, a room with a separate entrance was built in the chapel with a window-like opening between her tomb and her husband’s. Helene’s effigy on top of her tomb shows her looking and reaching towards the opening to the tomb of her beloved Ferdinand.

Tombs of Ferdinand, Duke of Orléans and his wife Helene; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Helene_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Philippe,_Duke_of_Orl%C3%A9ans [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Ferdinand-Philippe d’Orléans. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand-Philippe_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].
  • Mehl, S. (2016). Louis Philippe I, King of the French. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-philippe-i-king-of-the-french/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2018].

Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, Dauphin of France

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, Dauphin of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis-Antoine was the last Dauphin of France and was technically King of France for less than twenty minutes on August 2, 1830, after his father abdicated and before he also abdicated. After his father’s death, he was the Legitimist pretender to the French throne, and is sometimes known as King Louis XIX. He married his first cousin Marie-Thérèse of France, the only surviving child of the executed Louis XVI, King of France and Marie Antoinette.

Born on August 6, 1775, at the Palace of Versailles in France, Louis-Antoine was the eldest son and the eldest of the four children of Charles-Philippe of France, Count of Artois (the future Charles X, King of France) and Marie Thérèse of Savoy, daughter of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. Louis-Antoine was born during the reign of his paternal uncle Louis XVI, King of France who created his nephew Duke of Angoulême at birth.

Louis-Antoine had three younger siblings:

Louis-Antoine, on the left, with his mother and  siblings Sophie and Charles Ferdinand; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis Antoine and his younger brother Charles Ferdinand were educated by their governor Armand-Louis de Sérent, Marquis de Sérent in a household set up at the Château de Beauregard, a few miles from the Palace of Versailles, until the French Revolution began in 1789. After the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, Louis XVI insisted that his youngest brother Charles-Philippe and his family leave France to be sure that one close relative would be free to act as a spokesman for the monarchy.

On July 17, 1789, Charles-Philippe, his wife Maria Theresa, and their two sons left France for the safety of Maria Theresa’s home country, Savoy. Two years later, Charles Philippe’s elder brother Louis-Stanislas (the future King Louis XVIII) also fled France. Their eldest brother King Louis XVI unsuccessfully attempted to leave France with his family in 1791. After that, the fate of Louis XVI and his family was sealed. Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, and his sister Élisabeth were all eventually executed by the guillotine and Louis XVI’s ten-year-old son Louis-Charles, who had become the titular King Louis XVII upon his father’s execution, died in prison from tuberculosis. Only Louis XVI’s daughter Marie-Thérèse, Louis-Antoine’s future wife, survived.

Louis-Antoine first lived in exile with his family in Savoy, then in Germany, and finally in England. During their time in exile, Louis-Antoine’s father Charles-Philippe traveled to the various courts of Europe to seek defenders for the French royal cause. In 1792, Louis Antoine joined the Army of Condé, the émigré army of his cousin Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé.

After the death of Louis-Charles, Louis XVI’s ten-year-old son, in 1795, Louis-Antoine’s uncle Louis-Stanislas, as Louis XVI’s elder surviving brother, became the titular King of France as Louis XVIII. Later in 1795, the 20-year-old Louis-Antoine led an unsuccessful royalist uprising in the Vendée, France.  In 1797, he joined his brother and uncle in the Duchy of Brunswick, where they hoped to join the Austrian Army. However, the defeat of Austria by France forced them to flee. The family took refuge in Mittau, Courland (now in Latvia) under the protection of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia where Louis-Stanislas was given a very large pension and the use of Jelgava Palace. At Jelgava Palace, Louis-Stanislas attempted to recreate the pomp and ceremony of the court of Versailles.

Marie-Thérèse of France, Louis-Antoine’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1795, Marie-Thérèse of France, the only surviving child of Louis XVI, had been exchanged for prominent French prisoners and released from her imprisonment. She was taken to Vienna, her mother’s birthplace, where her first cousin Franz II reigned as Holy Roman Emperor. In May 1799, Marie-Thérèse left Vienna to join her paternal uncle Louis-Stanislas in exile at Jelgava Palace.

With no children of his own, Louis-Stanislas wished his niece Marie-Thérèse to marry her first cousin Louis-Antoine for dynastic reasons. He convinced Marie-Thérèse to agree to the marriage by telling her the marriage would be what her parents wanted. The wedding took place on June 10, 1799, at Jelgava Palace. The couple had no children and the marriage was not a happy one. In April 1814, following Napoleon I’s overthrow, the French Senate restored the Bourbons to the French throne and Louis-Stanislas officially became King Louis XVIII. The family, including Louis-Antoine and his wife Marie-Thérèse, returned to France.

The French Royal Family in 1823 – left to right: Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême; Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême; Prince Henri de Bourbon; Charles-Philippe, Count of Artois; King Louis XVIII of France; Princess Louise-Marie-Thérèse d’Artois; Marie-Caroline, Duchess of Berry

When King Louis XVIII died on September 16, 1824, he was succeeded by his younger brother Charles-Philippe as King Charles X. As the eldest son of the King, Louis-Antoine was now heir to the throne and became Dauphin of France while his wife Marie-Thérèse became Dauphine. Within a few years, the anti-monarchist feeling was on the rise again. Charles X’s ultra-royalist sympathies alienated many members of the working and middle classes. This led to the July Revolution of 1830. On August 2, 1830, King Charles X was forced to abdicate the French throne. Louis-Antoine was technically been King of France for less than 20 minutes before he abdicated and is sometimes known as King Louis XIX. Charles X named his grandson Henri, Duke of Bordeaux, son of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, as his successor. However, this did not sit well with Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the Orléanist claimant to the French throne. He took the throne on August 9, 1830, taking the title King of the French.

Once again, the former King Charles X, his son Louis-Antoine, and his niece and daughter-in-law Marie-Thérèse lived in exile. First, they lived in Edinburgh, Scotland where Louis-Antoine and Marie-Thérèse took up residence at 22 Regent Terrace near Holyrood Palace where the former Charles X lived. In 1832, the family moved to Prague Castle at the invitation of Marie-Thérèse’s cousin, now Franz I, Emperor of Austria as there was no more Holy Roman Empire. After Emperor Franz’s death in 1835, the exiles moved to the estate of Count Johann Baptist Coronini near Gorizia, which was in Austria but now in Italy.

The former King Charles X of France died from cholera on November 6, 1836, in Gorizia at the age of 79. Eight years later, Louis-Antoine, his son, died on June 3, 1844, aged 68, also in Gorizia. They were both buried at the Kostanjevica Monastery. The monastery had originally been in Gorizia but in 1947, the border between Italy and Yugoslavia was set just a few hundred meters westward from the monastery, and the monastery became part of the newly established town of Nova Gorica, then in Yugoslavia, now in Slovenia. Marie-Thérèse survived her husband by seven years, dying on October 19, 1851, at the Schloss Frohsdorf just outside Vienna, Austria, at the age of 72. She was also buried at the Kostanjevica Monastery.

Tombs of Louis-Antoine, Charles X and Marie-Thérèse; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Antoine,_Duke_of_Angoul%C3%AAme [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Marie Thérèse of France. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_France [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Louis de France (1775-1844). [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_de_France_(1775-1844) [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Marie-Thérèse de France (1778-1851). [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_de_France_(1778-1851) [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
  • Mehl, S. (2016). King Charles X of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-x-of-france/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].
  • Mehl, S. (2016). King Louis XVIII of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-louis-xviii-of-france/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].
  • Nagel, S. (2008). Marie Thérèse: The Fate of Marie Antoinette’s Daughter. New York: Bloomsbury.

Napoléon II, Emperor of the French

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Napoléon II, Emperor of the French; Credit – Wikipedia

Emperor of the French for only sixteen days in 1815, Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte was born at the Tuileries Palace in Paris on March 20, 1811. At birth, Napoléon II received the titles Prince Imperial and also King of Rome which his father declared was the courtesy title of the heir apparent. He was the only child of Napoléon I, Emperor of the French and his second wife Marie Louise of Austria, eldest child of Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor (later Emperor Franz I of Austria), and his first wife Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily. Napoléon I had divorced his childless first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1809 telling her he needed to find another wife who could provide him a son. Regarding Marie Louise, Napoléon I said that he had married a womb. His true love had been his first wife and his last words were, “France, army, head of the army, Joséphine.”

Napoleon II with his mother in 1813; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Charlotte Françoise de Montesquiou served as Napoléon II’s governess only until 1814 because in that year, the world of Napoléon I started to fall apart. Napoléon I and his son had very little time together. The last time Napoléon I saw his son and his wife Marie Louise was on January 24, 1814, when he kissed them goodbye before going off to war. In the early part of the 19th century, Napoléon I’s quest for power led to the Napoléonic Wars that were fought throughout a large part of Europe. In 1814, Paris was captured by the coalition fighting against Napoléon and his marshals decided to mutiny. He had no choice but to abdicate. The Treaty of Fontainebleau exiled Napoléon to the Mediterranean island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany, Italy. Marie Louise was dissuaded from joining her husband in exile and returned to Vienna, her birthplace, taking up residence with her son at Schönbrunn Palace with her father Franz I, Emperor of Austria. From 1814 until his death, Napoléon II lived in Austria and was known as Franz, the German version of his second name François.

Napoleon II with his Austrian family in 1826 – left to right: Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, Empress of Austria; Franz I, Emperor of Austria; Napoleon II of France, Duke of Reichstadt; Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria; Marie-Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma; the future Ferdinand I of Austria; and Archduke Franz Karl of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

In February 1815, Napoléon I escaped from his imprisonment on the island of Elba and returned to France but his reign was over when he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. He abdicated on June 22, 1815, in favor of his four-year-old son who was in Austria with his mother. Napoléon I was then exiled to the island of Saint Helena, a British possession, in the Atlantic Ocean, 1162 miles/1,870 km from the west coast of Africa. His health declined due to the harsh conditions and by 1821, his health was all but failing. He died on May 5, 1821, at the age of 51, and was buried on the island of St. Helena.

Napoleon II, circa 1818-1819; Credit – Wikipedia

Napoléon II “reigned” until July 8, 1815, when King Louis XVIII of France, the elder of the two surviving brothers of the beheaded King Louis XVI of France, returned to France to resume the throne he had vacated earlier that year due to Napoléon I’s return. Because of the brief but questionable reign of Napoléon II, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte proclaimed himself Napoleon III, Emperor of the French using the regnal number “the third” in 1852.

Napoléon II continued to live in Austria where he was granted the title Duke of Reichstadt. He began his military training and studied German, Italian, and mathematics. His official army career began at age twelve when he was made a cadet in the Austrian Army. His tutors described Napoléon II as intelligent, serious, and focused. Napoléon II wanted a military career but the European leaders were concerned that like father, like son, he eventually might try to gain power in France. He was not allowed to play any political role and even his grandfather Emperor Franz I refused to allow him to be part of the Austrian army traveling to Italy to put down a rebellion. In 1831, Napoléon II was given command of an Austrian battalion but he never served in any meaningful capacity.

Engraving of Napoleon II on his deathbed; Credit – Wikipedia

Napoléon II had been dealing with lung problems from a very early age and eventually developed tuberculosis. He died on July 22, 1832, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria at the age of twenty-one. He was buried in the Habsburg tradition of his mother’s family. His body was interred in Kaisergruft  (Imperial Crypt) under the Capuchin Church in Vienna, his heart was placed in the Herzgruft (Heart Vault) of the Habsburgs in the Augustinian Church near the Hofburg Palace in central Vienna and his entrails were placed in the Ducal Crypt in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Forty-one members of the Habsburg family attended Napoléon II’s funeral ceremonies.

In 1940, on the orders of Adolf Hitler, Napoléon II’s sarcophagus was removed from the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and transferred by train to Paris, France. The heart and intestines of Napoléon II remained in Vienna. This transfer was done in memory of the transfer of Napoléon I’s remains from the island of St. Helena to Paris in 1840 by Louis Philippe I, King of the French. Originally, Napoléon II’s sarcophagus was placed beside his father’s tomb in Les Invalides in Paris, France. In 1969, Napoléon II’s sarcophagus was interred in the lower church at Les Invalides.

The sarcophagus of Napoléon II when it arrived in Paris in December 1940; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Napoleon II’s burial place in the lower chapel of Les Invalides; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Napoleon II. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_II [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
  • Flantzer, S. (2016). Maria Ludovica of Austria, Empress of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-ludovica-of-austria-empress-of-france/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
  • Flantzer, S. (2016). Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/napoleon-bonaparte-emperor-of-the-french/ [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Napoléon II. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_II [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].