Josephine was a widow with two children when she married Napoleon. He was keen to have an heir but initially Josephine had been indifferent.
As Josephine already had children, when she did not become pregnant, it was a natural assumption that it was Napoleon who had a problem. By the time Josephine realised it was a major issue, her age came into play (she was seven years older than Napoleon).
When the young Polish Countess Marie Walewska became pregnant, Josephine knew her days were numbered. Napoleon looked around for a young wife who would bring both a royal connection and a son and heir. The Austrian emperor’s eldest daughter Marie-Louise (who was also Marie-Antoinette’s great niece) managed to deliver both.
On April 2 1810, Napoleon and Marie-Louise’ official religious marriage ceremony had taken place in the Louvre. On March 20 the following year, Paris awoke to the sound of cannon fire from Les Invalides announcing a child had been born to the Imperial couple. Protocol called for 21 shots to announce the birth of a girl and 101 for a son. As soon as the 22nd shot was fired, France knew Napoleon had his much desired son and heir.
The christening was attended by 7000 guests. Celebrations continued for most of the month. Food buffets, fountains of wine and orchestras entertained Parisians on the Champs Elysées with fireworks on the Place de la Concorde.
The City of Paris presented the imperial couple with a cradle worthy of the Emperor’s heir.
The magnificent creation of gilded silver extravagantly decorated with bronze and gold was designed by the artist Prud’hon , who had decorated Marie-Louise’ bed chamber at the Tuileries.
The legs of the cradle were entwined horns of plenty. Napoleon’s emblems of the eagle and bees were present and a winged victory held the crown from which the curtains fell.
The day the baby was born, he was placed in this cradle. It became his cradle at Saint Cloud.
When Napoleon was exiled on Elba, Marie-Louise took her son and his lavish cradle back to Vienna with her. It remains there.
However the other two original cradles are at Fontainebleau.
The child was named Napoleon François Charles Joseph (after his father, grandfathers and uncle who was also his godfather) and from birth carried the title “King of Rome”.
Four months before the birth of his son, Napoleon had resurrected the “Maison des enfants de France” in the model of the previous French kings. The all powerful position of governess was given to Madame de Montesquiou, the 45 year old wife of one of the Empire’s dignitaries. She had a staff of 30 people. In the months leading up to the birth, she assembled all the clothing (including 200 pairs of booties!)* and furniture for the child.
For the Tuileries, she ordered an elm wood cradle with bas-reliefs representing the Seine and the Tiber rivers.
Just as was the case with Napoleon, green was always the colour used for the fabrics for beds.
*The booties, worn by Napoleon’s son to his christening June 9 1811, were part of an amazing collection of Napoleon memorabilia sold at auction by Prince Albert of Monaco in 2014. His great grandfather had started the collection and his father had added to it. The booties fetched 50,000 euros in the sale.
The original christening gown and bonnet are in the Fontainebleau collection.
