EUGÈNE
Josephine’s eldest child was Eugène de Beauharnais. He was less than 18 months older than his sister Hortense and they were very close all their lives.
When his mother married Napoleon, Eugène was, like his sister, at a boarding school in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. When he finished there, he joined his stepfather in Italy as an aide-de-camp. He was 16. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt. He earned Napoleon’s respect when he distinguished himself as a soldier and was wounded in battle.
Eugène remained at Napoleon’s side and continued to distinguish himself in the military field. At 22 he was made a Brigadier General and commander of the Legion of Honour.
When he was 21, Eugène bought his own Paris residence across the Seine from the Tuileries Palace.
Josephine and Hortense became involved in the renovation of the grand residence which had been built in 1713. The popular decorating style was ““à l’égyptienne” thanks to Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt . The portico featuring Isis and Osiris carved into the columns was added after Eugène purchased the residence.
The former Hôtel de Beauharnais is now the Paris residence of the German Ambassador. *
Eugène had paid 200,000 francs for the residence. By the time his mother and sister had finished the
renovations, they had spent 1,500,000 francs, which needless to say did not impress Napoleon.
Two years after purchasing the residence, Eugène left France for a new assignment in Italy. The house was used by Napoleon to accommodate important guests.
*German Ambassador’s Residence
After the defeat of Napoleon, the King of Prussia rented the Hôtel de Beauharnais from Eugène.
Eugène moved to Munich and the King of Prussia bought the residence in 1818. (He paid 570,000
francs for it, which was a steal after all the money that had been spent on it.) It welcomed guests
such as Bismarck and Wagner when they were in Paris.
In1871 after the defeat of Napoleon III and the formation of the German Empire, it became the
German Embassy. It was confiscated at the end of the Second World War and classified as an
official historical monument. The French government gave it back to Germany in 1962. It was
restored and is now the official residence of the German Ambassador to France.
On occasions such as the “Journées du Patrimoine” it is open to visit, as well as occasionally on guided tours.
The year after becoming Emperor, Napoleon proclaimed himself King of Italy, with the coronation ceremony taking place in Milan in May 1805.
To commemorate the event, Napoleon’s official Italian court painter Andrea Appiani painted several versions of him as King of Italy.
Napoleon made Eugène his Viceroy of Italy.
Six months after making Eugène Viceroy of Italy, Napoleon organised his marriage.
As usual, Napoleon’s matchmaking was all about politics. He wanted to form a closer alliance with the
German princes. Princess Augusta, the daughter of Maximilien of Bavaria was already engaged to her cousin, the heir of the Prince of Baden.
Napoleon decided he would marry Eugène to Augusta and her fiancé would marry Stephanie de
Beauharnais*, Eugène’s second cousin.
On becoming Emperor, Napoleon had already declared his stepson an Imperial Prince. Now he officially adopted Eugène two days before he married the Bavarian princess.
The marriage was surprisingly happy and after Napoleon was exiled Eugène and Augusta went to live in
Munich. Augusta’s father made Eugène the Duke of Leuchtenberg.
They had six children who survived and married—the eldest daughter, called Josephine, became Queen
of Sweden. Another daughter became Empress of Brazil and the other two married a German Count and a German Prince. The elder son married the Queen of Portugal and the younger son moved to Russia and married the eldest daughter of Tsar Nicolas I.
The current heads of the royal families of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg are all
direct descendants of Eugène’s daughter Josephine.
*Stephanie called Napoleon and Josephine “uncle” and “aunt”. Napoleon adopted her before the marriage and she became an imperial princess.