Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte

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French Monarchy -
Bonaparte Dynasty

Napoleon I
Children
   Napoleon II
Siblings
   Napoleone
   Maria Anna
   Joseph, King of Spain
   Lucien, Prince of Canino
   Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
   Louis, King of Holland
   Pauline, Princess of Guastalla
   Caroline, Queen of Naples
   Jérôme, King of Westphalia
Nephews and nieces
   Princess Julie
   Princess Zénaïde
   Princess Charlotte
   Prince Charles
   Prince Louis
   Prince Pierre
   Prince Napoleon Charles
   Prince Napoleon Louis
   Napoleon III
   Prince Jérôme
   Prince Napoleon Joseph
   Princess Mathilde
Grandnephews and -nieces
   Prince Joseph
   Prince Lucien-Louis
   Prince Roland
   Princess Jeanne
   Prince Charles
   Prince Jerome
   Napoleon (V) Victor
Great Grandnephews and -nieces
   Princess Marie
   Princess Marie Clotilde
   Napoleon (VI) Louis
Great Great Grandnephews and -nieces
   Napoleon (VII) Charles
   Princess Catherine
   Princess Laure
   Prince Jerome
Great Great Great Grandnephews and -nieces
   Princess Caroline
   Prince Jean-Christophe
Napoleon II
Napoleon III
Children
   Napoleon (IV), Prince Imperial

Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, Prince Français, Count of Meudon, Count of Moncalieri ad personam (commonly known as Prince Napoléon) (September 9, 1822March 17, 1891) was the second son of Jerome Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, by his wife Catherine, princess of Württemberg. He soon rendered himself popular by his advanced democratic ideas, which he expressed on all possible occasions. After the French revolution of 1848 he was elected to the National Assembly as a representative of Corsica.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Portrait of "Prince Napoleon" by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin in 1860
Portrait of "Prince Napoleon" by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin in 1860
Funeral of Napoléon, 1891. (from Le Monde Illustré)
Funeral of Napoléon, 1891. (from Le Monde Illustré)

Born at Trieste, Italy, and known as Prince Napoléon or by the sobriquet of "Plon-Plon", he was a close advisor to his cousin, Napoleon III of France, and in particular was seen as a leading advocate of French intervention in Italy on behalf of Camillo di Cavour and the Italian nationalists. An anti-clerical liberal, he led that faction at court and tried to influence the Emperor to anti-clerical policies, against the contrary influence of the Emperor's wife, the Empress Eugenie, a devout Catholic and a conservative, and the patroness of those who wanted French troops to protect the Pope's sovereignty in Rome. The Emperor tended to see-saw between the two influences throughout his reign.

When his cousin became President in 1848, Napoleon was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain. He later served in a military capacity as general of a division in the Crimean War, as Governor of Algeria, and as a corps commander in the French Army of Italy in 1859. His curious nickname (Plon-Plon) is said to be a corruption of "Craint-Plomb", "Afraid-of-Lead", said to have been given to him by the army due to his absence from the Battle of Solferino. However, other historians claim that his nickname simply derives from his pronunciation of his name (Napoleon) when he was a child.

As part of his cousin's policy of alliance with Piedmont-Sardinia, in 1859 Prince Napoleon married Marie Clothilde, daughter of Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia.

When Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial, died in 1879, Prince Napoleon became the genealogically most senior member of the Bonaparte family, but the Prince Imperial's will excluded him from the succession, nominating Prince Napoleon's son Napoléon Victor Jérôme Frédéric Bonaparte as the new head of the family. No doubt in this decision the Prince Imperial had been influenced by his mother's dislike for Prince Napoleon's religious and political views. As a result Prince Napoleon and his son quarrelled for the remainder of Prince Napoleon's life. Napoléon died in Rome, Italy, at the age of 69. He had two more children: Napoléon Louis Joseph Jérôme (1864-1932), who died unmarried and without issue, and Marie Laetitia Eugénie Catherine Adélaïde (1866-1926), second wife of Amadeo I of Spain.

His grandson Louis Bonaparte (Brussels, 19141997) was a pretender of Bonaparte dynasty, and Louis's son, prince Charles Marie Jérôme Victor (born 1950), is the current head of the family. This Charles Napoleon has a son Jean-Christophe (born 1986) and a brother, Jérôme (born 1957), unmarried. There are no remaining legitimate descendants in male line from any other of Napoleon's brothers. There are, however, a substantial number of illegitimate descendants of Napoleon I himself, scions of his son Count Colonna-Walewski with Marie, Countess Walewski.

[edit] References in Popular Fiction

Prince Napoléon takes a leading role in Robert Goddard's novel Painting the darkness. References are made to his role in the Crimean War and his son's succession over him.

[edit] References

  • In the Courts of Memory, by Lillie de Hegermann-Lindencrone, relates the story of the origin of his nickname, with the warning; Sé non è vero è ben trovato.

[edit] Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Giuseppe Maria Buonaparte
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Carlo Buonaparte
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maria Saveria Paravicini
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jerome Bonaparte
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Giovanni Geronimo Ramolino
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Letizia Ramolino
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Angela Maria Pietrasanta
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Frederick I of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Princess Catharina of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales