“Napoleon VII” In Fontainebleau
I was just reading this story about how His Imperial Highness Charles Napoleon, great-great-grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Jerome, King of Westphalia, is standing for parliament in Fontainebleau. I had to smile at this line:
Incredibly, Mr Napoleon is also 1,120th in line to the British throne, thanks to the marriage in 1807 between Jerome Bonaparte and German princess Katherine of Wurttemberg.
Imagine - a Napoleon on the throne of England. How hard could it be to make 1119 people disappear?
April 13th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I believe that Napoleon III’s son was killed in active service in the British Army during the Zulu wars - so maybe it wouldn’t be that surprising.
Incidentally there was an article on BBC Radio 4 this morning about the battle of Copenhagen. Apparently the British were working on intelligence that Napoleon had planted, and he never intended to actually seize the Danish fleet after all.
I don’t know if this is news to historians, but it is certainly news to me.
Can I just apologise to the Danes on behalf of Nelson and my fellow countrymen. We are really sorry for sinking your fleet and flattening your capital city. It was all a misunderstanding after all.
Colin
April 17th, 2007 at 5:01 am
Theres an old film called “Kind Hearts and Coronets” where the lead character kills his way to the Dukedom. He got caught, and he only had about 9-12 to knock-off. So I reckon after about the first 1000 deaths people might get suspicious!
April 17th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Did you guys see this week’s Economist cover?
http://economist.com/images/20070414/20070414issuecovUS400.jpg
April 21st, 2007 at 1:32 am
Bryan,
It isn’t just the Economist. I was in Paris earlier this week and had dinner with a business associate. He came out with the suggestion that Sarkosy might be the next Napoleon. He seemed quite dissappointed when I said that I hoped not!
Colin