Five years after the ceremony which made Josephine an Empress, Napoleon decided to divorce her so he could produce an heir. Initially he had believed the lack of a child was a problem on his side because Josephine already had two children. Napoleon officially adopted them a year after declaring himself Emperor, when Josephine was 42.
Later the same year, one of Napoleon’s mistresses had gave birth to a son Leon (short for Napoleon). The following month, Napoleon met the young Polish countess Marie Walewska. When she became pregnant Josephine’s time was up. Napoleon knew he could father a child and looked for a new Empress among the European royal families.
The divorce settlement was generous. Josephine kept the title of Empress. She was also made Duchess of Navarre and given the chateau there. Most important to Josephine was that she received in her own right the chateau of Malmaison, her favourite residence. It was there she retired.
Josephine retained most of the original décor, with one notable exception being the bedroom.
Although she had lived in all the former royal palaces, Josephine’s favourite residence remained the private mansion she had bought in Malmaison. She retired there. Most of the décor remained the same with a notable exception being the bedroom.
Josephine’s new architect was Louis-Martin Berthault, a former student of Charles Percier. In 1799 he had been the designer of the neoclassical bedroom of Juliette Recamier, a friend of Josephine’s from the heady days of the Directory. It was the latest style and became almost a tourist destination.
Berthault designed Josephine’s new bedroom in the form of a large tent. The new bed was very similar to Juliette Recamier’s ground breaking bed 13 years earlier. It is more like a gold throne, a fitting reflection of the fact Napoleon had allowed her to keep the title of “Empress”.
Josephine died in this bed shortly before her 51st birthday. After her death, Josephine’s son Eugène had the bed transported to his chateau in Munich.
When Napoleon III bought his grandmother’s former residence in 1861 (his mother was Josephine’s daughter Hortense), he refurnished it and organised for Eugene’s widow to return the bed.
The two rooms preceding Josephine’s bedchamber at Malmaison were originally her bathroom and her maid’s bedroom.
They are now displayed as one large room, featuring the frieze which was at the Paris residence (in rue de la Victoire) she shared with Napoleon when they were first married.
The room also contains original furniture from her bedroom and boudoir at the Tuileries palace, including the floor rug and her dressing table from the Directory period. The chairs were originally at Saint Cloud. They feature Josephine’s symbol of the swan.
Next to the grand bedroom, Josephine had an “ordinary bedroom” with a day bed. It was on the corner overlooking the garden and filled with sunlight. It was the ideal place for Josephine to read or to write letters.
The door on the left leads to Josephine’s “cabinet de toilette”.
Josephine’s “cabinet de toilette” was between her “ordinary bedroom” and her boudoir. It was not a toilet but the dressing room where she also did her hair and make up.
Josephine normally spent three hours each day there. Even when she was young, she may not have been as beautiful as some of the women but she took great care over her grooming and normally outshone them all.
It is clear all the effort paid off when we take a look at the portrait of her by a Swiss artist which is displayed on the wall of her anti chamber leading to the main bedroom. It shows Josephine at the age of 50, the year before she died.
The adjoining room is Josephine’s boudoir.
The ceiling in Josephine’s octagonal boudoir is much lower than in the other rooms, allowing more effective heating. Half the original furniture is in place.
Josephine also used the boudoir as a dining room when she was living at Malmaison alone after the divorce.
When Josephine died Napoleon was exiled on Elba.
The following year he returned to France and ruled again for the “Hundred Days”, before being finally defeated at Waterloo and being forced to abdicate again.
On his way to meet the ship transporting him to what turned out to be his final exile on Saint Helena, Napoleon stayed for four nights at Malmaison. On the day of his departure he spent a long time in Josephine’s bedroom. He spoke endlessly about her to Hortense, saying he could not get used to being at Malmaison without her. He described her as “the most graceful woman I have ever known”.
