… as the middle children of the Bonaparte family, they played together. Elisa and Lucien’s 1st wife, Christine Boyer were good friends. They held receptions and plays, and Elisa and Lucien co-owned a literary salon in Ajaccio. When Christine died in 1800, Elisa too over the care of Christine’s 2 …
.. was the only sister to hold real political power. When the Bonaparte family moved to Marseille when Napoleon became Emperor, Elisa met Felice, a former Captain in the Royal Corse before the French Revolution. Napoleon thought Felice, who later called himself Levoy, was a very bad captain, but made …
… 4th child of 7, and eldest sister of Napoleon 1st, her full name after marriage was Elisa Maria Anna Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy. She was Princess Fanciscan, Priness of Lucca and Piombino, and Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Her husband was Felice Pasquale Baciocchi. (portraits: 1806 Elisa younger sister Pauline had …
… He was the nephew and heir to Napoleon 1st. We will discuss Napoleon III and his wife in detail later, because they are our fashion connection into the 20th century, and the central figures bringing together the stories of almost all the royal families of Europe. (Featured portrait: Napoleon …
.. would carry on the Bonaparte heritage after Napoleon I was long gone, and into the new era of the French Republic. The Louis/Hortense grandchildren and heirs would remain to this day key political and fashion figures worldwide. (portrait: Hortense in about 1812 with Napoleon III, her son who would …
.. in great detail because Napoleon made him marry Empress Josephine’s daughter (from another marriage), Hortense. They were the King and Queen of Holland from 1806-1810, and were married when he was 24. Fashion was very important to both of them. The 3 key Regency styles can easily be pointed …
Pauline (“Paulette”) moved with her mother to Rome, under the protection of the Pope when all the Bonapartes were exiled from France. Interestingly, that same Pope had been a prisoner of her brother. When Pauline became gravely ill with tuberculosis, the Pope made her husband Camilio return to her side …
… While Pauline hated Napoleon’s 2nd wife Marie Louise, in the end they put all their differences aside. When Napoleon’s reign ended with his exile to Elba, Pauline was the only sibling to visit him, and to support him. She sold her residence to the British Government, and they used …
.. as with her first marriage, she continued to have MANY extramarital affairs with the 2nd. One of her lovers was violinist Niccolo Paganini. She and her husband did not get along. When her sickly son died of an illness, her husband left her, but not before Napoleon bestowed upon …
Paulette bored quickly of life with her brother and the rules of mourning, so Napoleon wanted to marry her off as soon as possible. He arranged a marriage with Camilio Borghese, the 6th Prince of Sulmona. Paulette liked the title, and secretly married Camilio so she could get out of …
