In an earlier thread, someone suggested that the Comte de Chambord pull a Charles XIII of Sweden and adopt his successor - the Bonapartes. Naturally, when we think of Chambord, this seems very unlikely.
While I was reading a biography of Chambord recently, I came across an interesting tidbit of info. Chambord was MORE THAN willing to adopt the Prince Imperial as HIS HEIR TO THE THRONE OF FRANCE!
Okay, I hear you. This was the guy who turned down the French throne because of a flag and he's willing to accept the Bonapartes, not even a blood relation of his, as his successor on the throne of St. Louis? WTF!
It's true. Queen Isabel II of Spain was very good friends with fellow Spaniard and devoted royalist, the Empress Eugènie. Isabel was also in contact with Chambord. Knowing that he was elderly, unlikely to have legitimate children and that this would lead to further ruptures in the house of Bourbon (between the Orléanists and the Légitimists), she broached the subject to him of adopting the Prince Imperial (Napoléon IV).
Chambord was all for the idea! Trust me, my head was orbiting somewhere around Saturn when I read this. He would adopt the Prince Imperial as his 'dauphin', the prince would then marry one of Isabel's daughters (I suspect had the Conde de Montizon had a daughter, she would've been suggested instead), and succeed Henri V as the king of France. Of course, whether this was legal was a different matter entirely.
However, after he failed to be restored to the throne - which was what all of this hinged on - Chambord wrote to Isabel and Eugènie saying that he was too old and were he to do this, people would mistake his intentions, and the matter was dropped.
But what if, as ASB as it might seem, the last of the direct line of Louis XV had adopted the heir to the line of the Bonapartes?
While I was reading a biography of Chambord recently, I came across an interesting tidbit of info. Chambord was MORE THAN willing to adopt the Prince Imperial as HIS HEIR TO THE THRONE OF FRANCE!
Okay, I hear you. This was the guy who turned down the French throne because of a flag and he's willing to accept the Bonapartes, not even a blood relation of his, as his successor on the throne of St. Louis? WTF!
It's true. Queen Isabel II of Spain was very good friends with fellow Spaniard and devoted royalist, the Empress Eugènie. Isabel was also in contact with Chambord. Knowing that he was elderly, unlikely to have legitimate children and that this would lead to further ruptures in the house of Bourbon (between the Orléanists and the Légitimists), she broached the subject to him of adopting the Prince Imperial (Napoléon IV).
Chambord was all for the idea! Trust me, my head was orbiting somewhere around Saturn when I read this. He would adopt the Prince Imperial as his 'dauphin', the prince would then marry one of Isabel's daughters (I suspect had the Conde de Montizon had a daughter, she would've been suggested instead), and succeed Henri V as the king of France. Of course, whether this was legal was a different matter entirely.
However, after he failed to be restored to the throne - which was what all of this hinged on - Chambord wrote to Isabel and Eugènie saying that he was too old and were he to do this, people would mistake his intentions, and the matter was dropped.
But what if, as ASB as it might seem, the last of the direct line of Louis XV had adopted the heir to the line of the Bonapartes?