Louise Denvelle of Plaigne was Napoleon’s chosen mistress…

.. and the mother of Count Charles Leon, who was the only illegitimate child Napoleon I claimed as his.

Napoleon’s sister Caroline “set up” Louise as his mistress, in order to prove that it was Empress Josephine’s fault that they had no heirs.  With Charle’s birth, it sealed Josephine’s fate to be cast off in favor of second wife Marie Louise.

Napoleon ended the affair by marrying Louise to his army lieutenant.  The officer went missing in action, and Louise eventually married the Count of Luxbourg in 1814; hopefully for love this time.

(portrait: 1807 Napoleon’s mistress Louis Catherine Eleonore Denvelle de la Plaigne)