Lucien was politically active before Napoleon and played an important part in initially bringing Napoleon to power. However Napoleon did not approve of Lucien’s wife. Lucien refused to give her up. He moved to Rome and then England. During the Hundred Days he returned to France where Napoleon finally made him a Prince.
During Napoleon’s initial campaign in Italy, Elisa married a nobleman from Corsica. At that stage Napoleon was just a general, so his initial reticence about her choice was based on her husband’s doubtful reputation as an army captain. As Emperor Napoleon made Elisa the Princess of Piombino and Lucca in Italy. Four years later she also became the Grand Duchess of Tuscany.
Louis married Josephine’s daughter Hortense. Napoleon made Louis King of Holland for a period of four years. When he died in 1846, his only surviving son was in prison for his political activity. Louis had no idea he would became President of France two years later and then Emperor Napoleon III in 1852.
Caroline married Joachim Murat, one of Napoleon’s generals. Napoleon made them King and Queen of Naples after he moved his eldest brother Joseph from Naples to Spain. During Napoleon’s exile on Elba, Murat initially formed an alliance with the Austrians to keep the throne. He rallied again to Napoleon during the Hundred Days which resulted in his execution. Caroline then called herself the “Countess of Lipona” (anagram of Napoli).
At 19 Jérôme had run off to America where he married the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Napoleon did not approve and annulled the marriage. Jérôme then married a German Princess and Napoleon made him King of Westphalia—a combined region in Germany. Jérôme later became a prominent figure in the government of his nephew Napoleon III.
Pauline was Napoleon’s favourite sister. She married one of his Generals who died of yellow fever five years later. Within less than a year she remarried. Her new husband was an Italian Prince—Camillo Borghese, making her a Princess. The following year Napoleon made her a Princess of the Empire as well. Pauline’s Bed
During the French Revolution Madame Campan’s sister, who was also a lady of the bedchamber for Marie-Antoinette, was terrified of being guillotined and threw herself out of a window. Madame Campan had to raise her sister’s three daughters. She set up a girls’ boarding school at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Hortense became close friends with the youngest of Madame Campan’s nieces, who married one of Napoleon’s military commanders Marshal Ney and became a lady-in-waiting to both Josephine and Marie-Louise. Napoleon had been impressed by what he had seen at the school. Normally girls were educated at convents but they had been closed by the French Revolution. When Napoleon decided to set up schools for girls he appointed Madame Campan who became responsible for a boarding school for the daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters of men who had been awarded the Legion of Honour. It was the first of a number of schools for girls set up by Napoleon.
The first time I visited Versailles, I was awestruck by the Halls of Mirrors. The guide said something that changed my view forever. He explained that in the time of Louis XIV, the King’s residence was open to the public. Mirrors were incredibly expensive so for many visitors, it was the first time they had been able to see themselves. He added: “And for some it was a very bad shock!” We then went into the King’s bedchamber with its fabric woven with real gold and silver and heard about ceremonies for getting up and going to bed. The King received courtiers and even important guests there. As bizarre as it may seem to us the bedroom was the centre of court life. Continuing the visit, I noticed that the Queen’s bed was larger than the King’s and heard how Marie-Antoinette loathed the intrusion of the public ceremonies she had to endure in her bedroom. This visit literally changed my life as I became fascinated by the people who had lived in these spaces. I started reading everything I could on French history and my regular visits to France became centred around visiting the places where the lives of the colourful figures of French history had played out. This approach took me to places well off the tourist trail and even in those well known places such as Versailles, it literally opened new doors. Architecture and furnishing had become an important personal and political statement for most of the French Kings and their own living spaces set the trends for the rest of Europe. The vast spaces of many of the chateaux and museums have been featured in many beautiful photographic books. We are inviting readers to become more intimately acquainted with the places and people responsible for the development of French style décor and opening the doors to a wider range of tourism options than ever before. As the subject is so vast, we start with the most important space – where Kings, Queens and aristocrats received their most privileged guests, where so many of the famous writers penned their works, and where everyone spent a large part of their lives – the bedroom. Welcome to our unique journey.
