When Napoleon decided to make himself Emperor, all the former royal residences began to be converted to imperial palaces.
The initial focus was on Fontainebleau, which was the last stop for the Pope on his way to Paris for Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor.
Josephine took over the official bedchamber of the French Queens who had used it from the time of Marie de Medici, Henri IV’s wife.
The bed was not Empire style. Josephine used the bed Marie-Antoinette had ordered shortly before the Revolution but never slept in it.
The bedhead still has Marie-Antoinette’s initials.
.The simple private staircase leading up to the three small rooms on the mezzanine level above the Queen’s bedchamber is discreet.
The rooms were originally created for Louis XV’s wife Marie Leszczynska, who had a small private chapel, a study and maid’s quarters there.
Marie-Antoinette converted it to her Turkish boudoir.
