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Ever since she became an empress, Eugenie de Montijo feared Queen Marie-Antoinette’s fate. She was right to feel uneasy. Eighteen years into the reign and some eighty years after Marie-Antoinette’s head was severed under the guillotine, Eugenie ran in terror through the streets of Paris with a mob at her heels. The year was 1870 and the only friend the French empress found in her distress was her American dentist.
Eugenie doesn’t deserve her lack of fame. Who doesn’t know Marie-Antoinette and her horrible end? Who has never heard of Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon I? Both are legendary figures of French history. One was executed; the other had to agree to a divorce. That the French had two more empresses, Marie-Louise and Eugenie, is a lesser known fact. Marie-Louise’s contribution to the French history was reduced to giving Napoleon his only legitimate heir, an heir that Josephine was unable to provide. After the fall of the First Empire, Marie-Louise and her little son (who might have ruled as Napoleon II had he not died in exile) went to live in her native Austria and neither saw France again.
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With the Bonaparte family banished from the country, France went through two Bourbon kings and two revolutions to become, again, a republic. After 34 years in exile, the Bonapartes were back, this time headed by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I. His four-year stint as an elected French president ended in 1852 with a coup d’état when he took what he considered rightfully his: the imperial crown. Henceforth, he was known as Napoleon III.
Generally, the French don’t like Napoleon III. They call him Napoleon le Petit and they say that he did nothing for the glory of France. They seem not to notice that their glorious Napoleon I turned Europe into a battlefield where he sacrificed an entire generation of Frenchmen and caused untold misery to people all over the continent from Spain to Russia. His nephew, on the contrary, was an achiever of another sort. Under his 18-year rule, France conquered the world with her culture and industry. He was the builder of Paris as we know it today, with the wide avenues and sanitary underbelly. He was a modern man in every sense and he truly cared for his people’s well-being.
Fortunately, the new emperor was a bachelor and he could hope to find a bride of royal blood to solidify his lofty position. Unfortunately, he was also the slave of his hormones. While his emissaries were shopping for a suitable bride among the reluctant royal families of Europe—they all still smarted from the consequences of his uncle’s conquests—Napoleon III met the woman of his life and she was not a royal.
Even though Eugenie de Montijo was a stunning beauty, she would never have made the history books had she been only one of Louis Napoleon’s easy conquests. Let’s say it right here: the man had a long list of bedroom adventures, although he wasn’t averse to having sex in any other room, in any stationary or moving vehicle, or even a haystack – standing, sitting or lying down. His sexual appetite was legendary and sometimes embarrassingly noticeable. His Majesty the Empereur was renamed by his sneering courtiers His Majesty the Ampleur.
In Eugenie he found a fortress to be conquered. The rules were laid down very early after the two met. He was still the Prince-President of the French Republic, she the 26-year-old daughter of a widowed Spanish countess. He invited the two women for a weekend in a country château. As he was returning from a horse ride, he spotted Eugenie at one of the numerous windows. Not knowing the exact layout of the building, he called: “How do I get to you?” “Through the chapel, Sire,” she answered.
The siege of Eugenie lasted eleven months before her would-be-conqueror declared defeat. By that time France had, once again, become an empire with Louis Napoleon on the throne. Everyone, especially his family, expected him to do his duty by marrying a virginal princess. Instead, he presented them with a Spanish adventuress of dubious virtue. They were furious. “But I love her,” he said simply.
Eugenie’s extraordinary resistance to seduction was explained during the wedding night. She had no appetite for physical love. “Sex? Quelle saleté!” (Sex? What filth!) she was heard saying the next morning. Despite his wife’s attitude, the emperor remained faithful to her for a period of six months before he returned to his old habits. That did not sit well with the empress. She was very particular about her possessions and she would make an issue of a displaced pillow let alone a displaced husband. The household was soon aware of her displeasure, most of all the emperor who was forbidden access to the marital bed. But the pair had to produce an heir. A truce followed during which the task was accomplished. A lovely baby boy was born and given the title Prince Impérial. There were no other children. For the rest of Napoleon III’s reign, the frigid Eugenie presided over one of the most debauched courts in history, a court where adultery was the norm and a one-night stand with the emperor a badge of honor.
By now the reader has reached the opinion that Eugenie was a gold-digger with a block of ice where her heart ought to have been. That is incorrect. Most of her life was spent in serious charitable endeavors. An early feminist, she pushed for female education and was advocating the recognition of women’s achievements in literature, arts, and education. That her efforts were largely unsuccessful was the fault of the society she lived in. The reforms she championed came too early.
As an empress, Eugenie was without reproach. Always courteous and elegant, she represented her country admirably, whether at home or abroad. Queen Victoria, favorably impressed, quickly became Eugenie’s intimate friend. Politically, Eugenie certainly had an influence on the emperor, especially when he was weakened by a disease in the last years of his reign. The Bonapartes had many enemies; the most influential among them was the ultra-Republican Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables. Acting from his exile, he bombarded the imperial pair with insulting pamphlets. The mud stuck, and Eugenie was blamed for everything that went wrong. Like Marie Antoinette, she was foreign, and foreign queens were suspected of spying for their homeland and generally wishing ill to the French people.
The declaration of war on Prussia and the consequent debacle were entirely laid at her feet. Her husband, suffering from a debilitating pain, eagerly sought honorable death on the battlefield before surrendering to Bismarck. Eugenie refused to shoot into an angry mob that surrounded the imperial palace. She chose to flee. Alone, she tried several addresses before help was offered. Her savior was Dr. Evans, her American dentist. The pair sneaked off to the coast where the empress, in strict incognito, boarded a ship for England. As for Dr. Evans, he dined on the story for the rest of his life.
After the emperor’s comfortable imprisonment in the newly formed German Empire, the family is reunited in Camden Place, Chislehurst, southeast of London, to begin a life in exile. A plan for regaining his throne is certainly in the making when the emperor dies. From then on, Eugenie lives entirely for her son’s future. Not long after, tragedy strikes again: the prince, engaged in the war with the Zulus in South Africa, is slain by the natives.
The news makes the round of the planet. That his mother is devastated is understandable, but the prince’s death crushed the hopes of numerous Bonapartists. It was generally understood that should the handsome prince claim the imperial crown it would be his for the taking. The grief in France could be compared to the one felt by the British when Princess Diana succumbed after the car accident. Husbandless and childless, Eugenie drags her sorrow through the rest of her long life. She dies in 1920 at the age of ninety-four.
Update: Dear reader, for some reason I cannot phantom, this article has had ten times the success rate compared to others posted here, although — in my opinion — there are posts of the same, if not greater, interest such as The Inescapable Sarah Bernhardt or The Bloodbath of the Paris Commune. I would appreciate your feedback regarding where you found the link to The Tragic Empress post and why you decided to read it. Thank you in advance.
Related posts:
Loulou and the Zulus: The Life and Death of Napoleon IV
The English Courtesan Who Made a French Emperor
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If you enjoy these posts, support the author by buying her books on Amazon:
Read when you posted it in January but clearly didn’t click ‘like’!
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[…] Eugenie, the Tragic Empress […]
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Never understood the “stunning beauty” part….
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I’d been pulling up resources to respond to a discussion about France in the Belle Epoque that I felt glossed over the political role of the monarchists and why their power had waned after just a decade in the third republic. I saw this as one of the links below your article and followed it here.
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I saw a painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter of the empress and was so taken by it that I wanted to find out who the person in the painting was. The painting was made in 1854 and is just beautiful. It is a part of an exhibition in the Metropolitan museum until June 2018.
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Is it this painting? Because if it is, one of us has the date wrong:
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This article was listed third on a Google search of Empress Eugenie. I’m coming to Paris soon & wanted to know some of the French history.
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Thank you. Now it makes sense. Enjoy your stay in Paris.
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Read Queen of the Night a historical fiction by Alexander Chee and she is a prominent figure.
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Adele, did you like the book? Would you recommend it?
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What a tragic story! I came across a photo of Empress Eugenie on Pinterest and wanted to know who this interesting looking lady was. Then I came upon this article – thank you!
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My interest is this: I have inherited a sewing/manicure set given, I am told, to a young woman by Empress Eugenie. The young woman, later known as Mother Williams when she was “exiled” to the new world, Rolla, North Dakota, by Queen Victoria who thought her husband had eyes for the young woman. Mother Williams was “loaned” by Queen Victoria to the Empress, accompanying her to Africa where she wished to view her son’s grave.
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My grandmother had an oval framed print of Princess Eugenie by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, that her aunt gave to her in 1952. (Noted on the back with handwritten 3×5 card.) My grandmother, Florence Williams, gave it to my mother (her daughter-in-law) in the 60’s. When mom passed away last year, the print came to me, as she had wished because I had loved it since I was a child. Today was the day I unwrapped it, to hang it on my bedroom wall, above my bed, as my mother had for so many years. That’s when I found the 3×5 card and so of course I researched it. This is how I came to find out, that my grandmother, a feminist before her time, would of course, have this print and of course it came from her likewise feminist aunt. We girls have always been rabble rousers and champions for the down trodden for many generations. I know this because my grandmother’s cousin was a genealogy librarian in Santa Cruz and we have extensive family history available to us. Anyway it’s simply fascinating to me to find out who the Empress Eugenie was.
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I found this article through my old school FB page…Farnborough Hill in Hampshire is where Eugenie lives after fleeing to uk.
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Here is something I did not know. Thank you, G. Jones.
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I read this because I lived in Farnborough, went to Farnborough Hill school (where the Empress whiled away her final years), and got married in St Michael’s Abbey, where the whole family are interred. (Comment as requested by author)
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I read this from the FB link from my old school Farnborough Hill too. It was fascinating to have been at school at a place where Empress Eugenie lived and to read about her life before she came to the UK.
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I was looking for empress Eugenie.
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Loved this article. While working in a factory in the 1960s I worked beside a young wife who regaled me with the story of the beautiful Empress Eugenie..a woman she greatly admired. My friend owned a hardcover book about the Emptess and knew her tragic story well.
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Elaine, Eugenie was a remarkable woman in a remarkable era. If you like to read about that part of history, try my novel Fame and Infamy. You can access it from the sideboard.
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Thank you for honoring/remembering this woman’s role in history. I searched her name while reading about Lesseps, canal builder, and his YOUNG wife Louise Helene Autard de Bragard in Mccullough’s…. Path Between the Seas.
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Having learned in school (in France) about the Second Empire, I am familiar with the Imperial Family but out of curiosity I wanted to look up some dates.
My great-grand mother ( a seamstress) was born in 1855 and left my grand-mother , also a seamstress, a beautiful mirror that was passed down from a precious generation. Apparently, my great-grand mother’s aunt was a seamstress who had done some work for the Empress and she liked it so much that she gave her one of her mirrors. By the way we are all French but I have been living in the US since the late 60’s. When my Mother passed away 7 yrs ago the mirror came to me and proudly sits on my vanity table. Just a little bit of trivia. I figured out that it was given to my ancestor around 1860.
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Nicole, thank you for this piece of history.
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I am reading a book on Mary Todd Lincoln
and Eugenie is mentioned as a fashion mentor to her and many other women of that time so I wanted to see pictures and learn more about her.
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I was a.student of European history and loved material on the French royalty. Empress Eugenie was real impressive and thanks for such a beautiful article. Very informative
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And I remember reading that bit when she said ” empress Eugene died in 1871″ when Bismarck overrun France- Henryand when she wanted to.fly at the age of 94. Thanks so much for writing about that great woman and in the process honoring her
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I found the article because I did a quick search about Empress Josephine and Eugénie. I couldn’t remember who was married to Napoleon first versus Napoleon third.
Having found the above article and ascertained the correct history, I might’ve moved on, but I stopped to read the whole article. I was not surprised to learn that it was exceptionally popular. It is concise but incisive, insightful and informative. In such a short space, it gives us a feel for the realities of Eugenie’s life–the victories and disappointments, strengths and weaknesses, her moods and manners —,we could see her as a real person rather than just a historical figure. In the process the historical narrative in which she played a part also came alive. Very nicely done. Thank you
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Thank you, George. That warmed my heart. 🙂
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I live in Farnborough about a 5 minutes away from her old home and the Abbey in which she is in the crypt with her husband and son. Napoleon and leopold. I wonder if lots of people in Farnborough visit this page adding to its popularity.
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They do. I know at least one who commented.
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I had a dream about being in an escape room. It ambience was really creepy. I was in a room that looked like a grand study. Maybe from the 1800’s. I was looking for something. Then I found a notebook with the Louis Vutton logo. I left that place and went to meet up with my friends. I, again, encountered the notebook in a box. I thought it was really weird. I just put it down. The dream ended.
Ive been recently having dreams about Paris. I saw the Louis Vutton logo again, in real life, and decided to search the guy up. I found out the brand was created in Paris and the Empress commissioned him for one of his designs? I thought it was pretty cool. And thats how I came across this article. She was infact an amazing woman.
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Thank you for sharing this story. I did not know that the empress was connected to Louis Vuitton luggage.
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Dear author I found the link to this post on Google- I looked up the term/name “Empress Eugenie,” as I ran across the name while reading “Diving Bell and Butterly.” This article was very intriguing!
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This is intriguing, Whitney. I googled the title and it is a true story of a man who suffered a stroke. Where is Empress Eugenie in that?
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After watching tv programme about the V&A museum which showed Charles Worth clothes designer of 1800s dresses,I researched about him and Empress Eugenia was one of his first clients,which led me to wanting to know about her.
Very interesting article thanks
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I Googled Princess Eugenie after stumbling across an article in the March, 1892 Ladies’ Home Journal
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ladies%27_Home_Journal_Vol.9_No.04_(March,_1892).pdf&page=3
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Regarding your question of finding this article, I found it on Google search looking up how to spell the Empress’ name for an project I’m working on. Thanks so much for this article and the following on Loulou and the Zulus. I adore Empress Eugenie ever since I saw her with Queen Victoria. I think she was visiting France. In the mid 1800s there were the Beauties of the land. Great Britain had Queen Victoria, France had Empress Eugenie, and Austria had Empress Sisi (Elizabeth).
Also, unless I misread your article, the French loved Napoleon III and he was a good ruler. He was President of the Republic and like the USA you have to stand down once having served your term. Government liked him so much that to keep him they had to change the structure, so creating an Empire. That way they could have Napoleon III for a longer period. The Empire fell because France went to war with Prussia and lost. Strangely though, he was suffering from gall stones at the time but his doctors didn’t or wouldn’t tell him so he declared war. It’s debatable that if he had known if may not have gone to war (back in the days when the leaders actually went onto the battle field!)
Thank you for your next article on the Prince Imperial. As well as being killed by the Zulus, it was a very horrible death! If I remember reading correctly, he was stabbed numerous times and had a spear plunged into one of his eyes.
Maybe this article was so popular as Empress Eugenie was one of the great beauties of the time and with such a grand yet tragic life.
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Thank you, Thomas. If you want to know more about Napoleon III, especially about his life as an adventurer, read the post:
The French have just recently begun to think that Napoleon III had his merits. They still largely prefer his “glorious” uncle.
Napoleon III knew about his gallstones well before the war. He abhorred wars and he was pushed into declaring war on Prussia.
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I’m reading Queen Victoria’s Leaves from a Journal -published excerpts from her journal chronicling the visits between the Emperor and Empress and Victoria and Albert in 1855. I wanted to get a better understanding of their background. Enjoyed your post, very thorough, thanks.
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This is fantastic and beautiful! It relivens my appetite for European history in general and the French history in particular. Empress Eugene was a spectacular lady as you rightly presented her. Thank You!!!
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I was researching some jewellery passed down from my Grate –
Grate grand mother from a range made by “Trifari” called “Empress Eugenie” it seemed that the jewellery was made to honor Empress Eugenie, i did a search for Empress Eugenie and landed on this page.
i now understand the interest in her by my g g grand mother as she was also a feminist.
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I found this by looking up the Empress’ name via Google search. I was reading about the Countess of Castiglione, Virginia. It talked about the Empress and I wanted to know more. This article does not mention anything of her or the relevance to the Empress’ life. That would be great to see in the article as it could provide more insight into the personality of Empress Eugenie. Overall I like the article.
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Thank you Lauren. I’m not aware of Castiglione having a great impact on Empress Eugenie’s life. She was just one of the many Napoleon III’s mistresses. I published a post about her here:
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Thank you. I found your article because I am reading “queen of the night” by Alexander Che and was curious about the history of Eugenie and Napoleon during that time.
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I looked up this article as a photo popped up in Hampshire photos on Facebook of the coffin of Eugenie in Farnborough being taking from Farnborough Station to her burial & her son was walking behind.
It piqued my interest I wanted to know who she was.
Dee Hyde Hampshire
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I came across this article while researching the Empress for a program on her for our doll club. Many dolls based on the Empress were made in the 1850s on. A new Eugenie mold was released by the Doll Artisans Guild in the last decade or so and it is believed by many people that the Bru Smiler doll of which there are many reproductions, is a portrait of the Empress. I also just recently saw either a Bratz doll or a repainted Monster High doll (not my area) that was dressed in a costume based on a Winterhalter portrait of Eugenie.
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How very interesting. Thank you for sharing this.
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I am reading the novel “The Queen of the Night” by Alexander Chee, and wanted to know more about the Empress and the French Court at that time.
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My Mother was a Kirkpatrick and I found out that Eugenie is part of my family tree. My cousin had told me about the connection to Farnborough Abbey. Thank you for the added information. I wish to share this with my daughters.
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Yes, Eugenie had ancestors in Scotland. And she was a natural redhead. 🙂
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I found this article through Google search and after reading the first paragraph, I found your humor to be quite enthralling.
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How very kind of you. 🙂
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Someone in our family is doing the family tree an Eugenie’s name came up as a possible link to us. I had know idea who she was so decided to google her and came across this site. Thanks for posting.
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found the link for this article in a google search of Empress Eugenie.
I do have a comment in regard to the use of the word ‘savages’- This word used by colonizers as a means of justifying the treatment of natives on their respective land. I’d consider retracting the word.
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Savages then, savages today:
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Dear Writer if the article on the Empress Eugenia who requested feedback, I am a lover of History particular when it is well written – examples: Grant by Ron Chernow and Truman by David McCulloch. I also love Gore Vidal’s historical novels and just finished reading Lincoln for the 4th or 5th time over the last 30 years. The Empress Eugenie appears briefly near the end (not to Lincoln) but to his former secretary, Ambassador John Hay. I was reminded that I had been interested in Eugene in the past but never understood much about her and so “googled” her and came across your thorough explanation of who she was. I learned a great deal – thank you so much! I can’t live her as I live Abraham, but interesting and because of her eyebrows, a woman destined to never ever be photographed looking happy!!?
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Dear Linda, I loved your comment about Eugenie’s eyebrows. Indeed, they give her a sorry look in all circumstances. :]
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I was transcribing some old family letters from England, and three times the writer mentioned “Empress Eugene,” in the context of telling that the daughter of some family friends was working for her. At first I did not understand the reference, but census records confirmed the presence of the daughter as a still-room maid at Farnborough, and I wanted to learn more about the exile of the former empress so searched Google. The letters also mentioned that the girl’s sister “worked for a lady who visits them [the ex-empress],” and that turned out to be Mary Matilda Weld.
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For years I’ve been enchanted by the 19th century and the lives that the royals have led.
I read almost every article I could find about Queen Victoria, and looked at her portraits. That’s how I became familiar with the works of Franz Winterhalter. His art and paintings mesmerised me. One of my favourite paintings is with Empress Eugenie and her ladies in waiting, and so I wanted to find out more about her life, and see more of her portraits. That’s how I came across this painting and this article.
Thank you for telling her life story so well, in such beautiful style and language. It felt as if I’m reading a letter from a friend, rather then historical facts.
I’ll surely read more of what you wrote!
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Thank, you, Diana for your kind answer.
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Oh, my goodness! I have just learned so much from this wonderful article about Empress Eugenie. I have recently moved to a much smaller apartment and I am putting up pictures, deciding which ones to choose, etc. One is a picture of my aunt’s, who always had it in her bedroom. I have it now, have never really checked it and discovered that it is a copy of Winterhalter’s painting of Empress Eugenie and her ladies in waiting. This, of course, led to more googling, and to this wonderful story of Empress Eugenie. I have enjoyed it very much, with so many details I knew nothing about. She was, indeed ,a a tragic Empress, one who truly wouldn’t survive in today’s world. Or, maybe she would, perhaps taking up a truly feminist role and telling her man where to go! My heart, I must say, goes out to this woman and the miserable life she had to put up with. It all sounds very glamorous but we certainly know differently. I shall put this picture up again in my new bedroom, and have conversations with Eugenie to help console her very wounded heart. I’m so glad that I decided to look up more information about my aunt’s lovely picture and that I came upon this wonderful story! Thank you so very much! And I, like so many others here, would be delighted to read more stories of historical people!
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Thank you, Elizabeth, for your kind message. I’m glad you liked the article. There are many more articles about the time when Eugenie lived and the personalities she met. If you like to read historical fiction, try my book Fame and Infamy, set in Paris shortly after the events you read about. It is available on Amazon.
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This link appeared in a FB feed article. I now have a slightly better understanding of the Napoleons following the first one. Hers was an unusual and tragic life. History could have changed with her son. Interesting.
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Searching for details on the 2nd French Empire, in particular, Empress Eugenie, I came across your insightful and entertaining posts, and have just subscribed. I’m a writer of short fiction, turning now to historical fiction. As it happens, one of my early adolescent loves was Désirée (by Annemarie Selinko), must have read it five times. A few years ago I put the first Napoleon in a story about my 4th great grandfather (“The Emperor’s Cloak,” published at https://copperfieldreview.com/?p=4370). More recently I got interested in Eugenie’s chief courtier Anne Masséna (for whom Anna’s Hummingbird was named). She is in the famous Winterhalter painting, of course, but little about her is known. I wrote a short story about her and the fall of the Empire, which would be far better as a novella — in process now, or at least the research is. Thank you for inspiring me.
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Welcome, Jo-Anne! I hope you’ll find here what you are looking for. I know nothing about Anne Masséna except that Masséna was one of Napoleon’s generals. Anne must be his in-law to some degree, I suppose.
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Yes, General Masséna was Anna’s father-in-law. Her father was Jean-François Joseph Debelle. Both she and her husband Francois Victor (an amateur ornithologist) were the children of generals active in the revolution and under Napoleon. She is also known as Anne Debelle, Princesse d’Essling. A tiny corner of history that I fell into, thanks to a hummingbird nest. I know there’s a story in it. Meanwhile, I look forward to reading more of your posts. Wonderful details!
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You ask readers how we found this article and why. I’m reading a book by David McCullough called “The Greater Journey – Americans in Paris”, a fascinating story of Paris in the 19th century that keeps me going to the internet for more info. The escape of Eugenie with the help of Dr. Evans is briefly described in this book, I wanted to get more background on her, and thus found your article. Thank you .
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