Commemorating the birthday of the Eaglet, Napoleon’s only legitimate son As reported on March 21, 1811, in the Paris journal Le Monitor, Napoleon Bonaparte’s son, the King of Rome (nicknamed the Eaglet), was born on March 20, 1811: “Today, 20 March, at twenty minutes past nine in the morning, the hopes of France were realized: Her …
“My birth and my death—that’s the whole of my story,” said Napoleon’s only legitimate child, shortly before dying of tuberculosis on July 22, 1832. He was just twenty-one years old.
Theoretically, Napoleon’s toddler son, known as the King of Rome and called François, became Napoleon II on June 22, 1815, when Napoleon abdicated in his favor after the battle of Waterloo. In reality, the boy never ruled. With the help of France’s enemies, Louis XVIII claimed the throne, reestablishing the Bourbon dynasty. Meanwhile, young Napoleon …
In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine Beauharnais, the widow of an aristocrat who had been guillotined. On their wedding day, Napoleon was twenty-six and Josephine thirty-two. His future looked promising; she was bankrupt. He married for love, she for convenience. They had a tumultuous life together until 1809 when it became clear she could never provide …
