Napoleon - An Intimate Portrait


The Royal Lines

As Emperor, Napoléon was generous to his family, bestowing titles and granting providence over a number of kingdoms. His desire to provide France with an heir would ultimately precipitate his divorce from his beloved Joséphine and marriage to the Austrian Archduchess Marie-Louise. In a twist of irony though, their son, the King of Rome (later the Duke of Reichstadt), would die young leaving no heir of his own. The children of Joséphine, on the other hand, would seat monarchs on the thrones of Europe. Hortense, in her marriage with Napoléon’s brother Louis, would give birth to Napoléon III, Emperor of the French from 1851 to 1870. Eugène’s daughter would marry the King of Sweden and Norway, and the lineage of their sons sits on numerous thrones to this day.

Click here for Emperor Napoléon's Family Tree

Click here for Joséphine's Descendents

Images © photo12.com-Pierre-Jean Chalençon
A Traveling Exhibition from Russell Etling Company (c) 2011