Désirée becomes Madame Bonaparte

Désirée and Julie Clary were the daughters of François Clary, a silk manufacturer and merchant in Marseille, France.
Désirée became engaged to Joseph Bonaparte. Joseph's brother, Napoleon Bonaparte was introduced to the Clary family.
Reportedly, it was Napoleon who suggested that Joseph should be engaged to Julie. Instead Napoleon should be engaged to Désirée.
The Clary sisters and Bonaparte brothers approved this suggestion.
Joseph married Julie. Désirée became engaged to Napoleon. She did not marry Napoleon.

Suppose Napoleon marries Désirée. He does not meet Josephine. What happens then?
 
Depends on Napoleon's sense of destiny...

...lf he gets to Paris, there could still be the whiff of grapeshot to deter the Paris mob...

...Someone else has been reading Anne-Marie Selinko. Desiree will not stand in his way and she's younger than Josephine, so I see a Napoleonic dynasty. But it's bad news for Marshal Bernardotte and Scandinavia...
 

FrozenMix

Banned
The drama that Napoleon endured with Josephine was a bit ridiculous at times and clearly became a distraction. It was said I think by Augereau (not the best source, but still) that Napoleon's concern and obsession over Josephine's whereabouts leading up to the battles during the third relief of Mantua almost cost the Army of Italy dearly and that while Napoleon was stellar as usual in battle, it was a near run event.

Maybe him marrying someone who was less holding over his emotions and temperament as well as being likely more down to earth would help him.
 
Désirée's mother's reluctance to accept Napoleon into their family did not deter him in his pursuit of her.
He wrote to her regularly after his return to Paris.
He addressed Désirée as his "adorable friend".
 
The Clary sisters and Bonaparte brothers approved this suggestion.
Joseph married Julie. Désirée became engaged to Napoleon. She did not marry Napoleon.

My understanding is that Madame Clary decided that one Bonaparte in the family was quite enough.

Suppose Napoleon marries Désirée. He does not meet Josephine. What happens then?

IIRC, Josephine was useful to Napoleon in his political rise in the 1790s. He'll still go up, but maybe not as fast. Down the road, Désirée would be fertile, unlike Josephine, and thus there could be a dynasty of direct descent. Also there could be no Austrian marriage for Napoleon.

As a side issue, Napoleon does not have Eugene de Beauharnais as a valuable subordinate.
 
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