What would have become of a son or daughter of Napoleon and Josephine?

Say she conceived in the late 1790s, right around the time of the Egyptian Campaign. I assume the child would have become heir to the Imperial throne upon Napoleon's ascension.

What would have happened to them following Napoleon's fall? Obviously they couldn't be locked up in an Austrian palace or anything of the sort, since no other royal family would have a 'claim' to them, so to speak. I could see them drinking poisoned wine courtesy of Bourbon assassins.
 
Say she conceived in the late 1790s, right around the time of the Egyptian Campaign. I assume the child would have become heir to the Imperial throne upon Napoleon's ascension.

What would have happened to them following Napoleon's fall? Obviously they couldn't be locked up in an Austrian palace or anything of the sort, since no other royal family would have a 'claim' to them, so to speak. I could see them drinking poisoned wine courtesy of Bourbon assassins.

Well it is possible that he would of kept the imperial throne after his father's first abdication. Being an adult, if he was charismatic, smart and pragmatic. condemns his father if he tries to come back from exile. It is slightly possible there would still be an Emperor Napoleon in France today. I looked for a possible english marriage match for him but couldn't find one..
 
Well it is possible that he would of kept the imperial throne after his father's first abdication. Being an adult, if he was charismatic, smart and pragmatic. condemns his father if he tries to come back from exile. It is slightly possible there would still be an Emperor Napoleon in France today. I looked for a possible english marriage match for him but couldn't find one..

No way. The allies aren't going to tolerate what would basically be a mere change at the head of state. That's like executing someone and then making their son your bodyguard. A child(or children) of Napoleon and Josephine would either end up in the country of their in-laws or in Italy with the rest of the Bonapartes.
 
So what if Napoleon II is born on January 1st, 1797, the couple's last night before he left for Italy proves quite fruitful and why not add a daughter, Cairo Italia in 1799. Yes those last nights before leaving very fruitful.

Maybe the earlier parenthood helps to settle the Corsicans militaristic ways and he is more apt to find a peaceful solution to Europe's problems no matter how provoked by England and others.

Or his warlike ways worsen as he feels a need to leave the biggest possible empire to his heirs. The Coalitions crush him when he over extends one too many times

An interesting take would be the Battle of Borodino where the King of Rome is accompanying his father and a one in thousand shot kills the Imperial Prince.

Napoleon collapses in despair.

The French Army leaves Russia.

Bonaparte shocked by the death never quite recovers and France is ruled by varying factions manuevering to outdo each other in his mental absence

Eventually, his daughter marries an Austrian Prince and their Son becomes Napoleon III, known as Charles Napoleon, Ruler of the French Empire

Of course staying married to Josephine butterflies away his second marriage

Would Napoleon have divorced Josephine if they had children together?
 
Married off to the Heir of Russia for irony.

yes and there a whole tl about that, the paix of napoleon.

That change the man a lot, why not give more when he come back, both son and daugther, he loved previous otl josephine sons and those new two will be the same and change a lot(not need heir with austria, maybe more level headd with his victories,etc
 
I came up with a little scenerio. Let us say they have a son and daughter born 1796.

Everything goes pretty much the same but in the negotiations in 1806 the negotiations do not sour, but a marriage is arranged between napoleon's daughter and the Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, and Napoleon let's sicily go and restores Hanover to the House of Hanover as her dowry.

With Napoleon's daughter a Princess in Britain 1810. He arranges for his son to be Betrothed to Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, the tsar's sister 1815.

By 1815 he has a grandson in britain and his son is married to the grand duchess, and his taste for war cools off and he looks to secure his dynasty.

Dying in 1822 (he lives a year longer from better treatment and conditions) from stomach cancer, he is outlived by his son, the new Emperor, his grandson the new King of Rome, and his daughter and her son the heir apparent to the Heir Presumptive of britain.
 
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I doubt it. As far as I know he was very fond of her and only divorced her because he required an heir.

Was there any way the French would have accepted Eugene as Napoleon's heir. He was very competent. Would it have been possible if Nappy was a Lord Protector instead of Emperor?
 
I came up with a little scenerio. Let us say they have a daughter in 1790 and a son 1792.

Everything goes pretty much the same but in the negotiations in 1806 the negotiations do not sour, but a marriage is arranged between napoleon's daughter and the Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, and Napoleon let's sicily go and restores Hanover to the House of Hanover as her dowry.

With Napoleon's daughter a Princess in Britain. He arranges for his son to be Betrothed to Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, the tsar's sister.

By 1810 he has a grandson in britain and his son is married to the grand duchess, and his taste for war cools off and he looks to secure his dynasty.

Dying in 1822 (he lives a year longer from better treatment and conditions) from stomach cancer, he is outlived by his son, the new Emperor, his grandson the new King of Rome, and his daughter and her son the heir apparent to the Heir Presumptive of britain.

Slight problem - they didn't meet until late 1795 and by all accounts Josephine wasn't exactly faithful to Napoleon in the early part of their marriage. So any child would have dubious parentage
 
Slight problem - they didn't meet until late 1795 and by all accounts Josephine wasn't exactly faithful to Napoleon in the early part of their marriage. So any child would have dubious parentage


Yeah my bad, I was so busy checking the other dates I forgot to double check the date of marriage. lol fixed
 
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Doubt you'd see any high marriages of Napoleon's children that early on; he only snagged Marie Louise in 1810, when he was arguably at the apex of his power. Even then, she wasn't his first choice, considering he wanted one of the Tsar's sisters, to the horror of their mother who quickly arranged another marriage. I agree that a marriage of Napoleon's son to a Russian Grand Duchess is quite likely pursued to keep Russia as a friendly ally, or at worst, neutral. The Russian court will probably still view the match with horror, but Alexander can probably force the issue if necessary.

In 1806 Napoleon is still a nouveau declassé upstart, you'd also have the issue of religion: his daughter would need to convert to the Church of England, because otherwise Clarence is disbarred from marrying a Catholic. It's not an insurmountable task, but I still don't see such a match happening. The British public is too francophobic at the point; not to mention, Charlotte of Wales is still alive and will (hopefully) succeed her father. Clarence isn't going to abandon his relationship with Mrs. Jordan to marry Napoleon's daughter; no one knew in 1806 that he would end up being king.

I use this as a PoD in my timeline, the Paix de Napoléon. Him and Josephine have a son, and Napoleon also makes some smarter choices. It's told through seven point of views in 1911, when the Prince Imperial of France is assassinated in Munich, though. One cursory chapter does show the marriage between Anna Pavlovna and the alt-Napoleon II: they have a polite marriage, but no real love affair. She busies herself with the Imperial court, which receives much of it's present day grandeur due to her inventions and her role as First Lady of France following Josephine's death. Napoleon's court being rather spartan in comparison. They have differing ideologies, with Napoleon II instructing the governor of his eldest son: 'the Princess Imperial was raised in the old ways. I do not want my son to grow up spoiled; he must remember the roots of our family and that we were raised to such great heights by the ideals of the revolution... he must grow up to be both a Bonapartist and revolutionary...'
 
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Doubt you'd see any high marriages of Napoleon's children that early on; he only snagged Marie Louise in 1810, when he was arguably at the apex of his power. Even then, she wasn't his first choice, considering he wanted one of the Tsar's sisters, to the horror of their mother who quickly arranged another marriage. I agree that a marriage of Napoleon's son to a Russian Grand Duchess is quite likely pursued to keep Russia as a friendly ally, or at worst, neutral. The Russian court will probably still view the match with horror, but Alexander can probably force the issue if necessary.

In 1806 Napoleon is still a nouveau declassé upstart, you'd also have the issue of religion: his daughter would need to convert to the Church of England, because otherwise Clarence is disbarred from marrying a Catholic. It's not an insurmountable task, but I still don't see such a match happening. The British public is too francophobic at the point; not to mention, Charlotte of Wales is still alive and will (hopefully) succeed her father. Clarence isn't going to abandon his relationship with Mrs. Jordan to marry Napoleon's daughter; no one knew in 1806 that he would end up being king.

I use this as a PoD in my timeline, the Paix de Napoléon. Him and Josephine have a son, and Napoleon also makes some smarter choices. It's told through seven point of views in 1911, when the Prince Imperial of France is assassinated in Munich, though. One cursory chapter does show the marriage between Anna Pavlovna and the alt-Napoleon II: they have a polite marriage, but no real love affair. She busies herself with the Imperial court, which receives much of it's present day grandeur due to her inventions and her role as First Lady of France following Josephine's death. Napoleon's court being rather spartan in comparison. They have differing ideologies, with Napoleon II instructing the governor of his eldest son: 'the Princess Imperial was raised in the old ways. I do not want my son to grow up spoiled; he must remember the roots of our family and that we were raised to such great heights by the ideals of the revolution... he must grow up to be both a Bonapartist and revolutionary...'


Yeah nobody knew he was going to be king, but he was second in line for the throne and would be uncle to the presumptive queen charlotte, that is why they probably accept it. That and getting Hanover back and really wanting peace. Napoleon would probably have a harder time swallowing the match then the British. Switching denomination for marriage was fairly common in the high nobility and royalty, that isn't really an obstacle.
 
Yeah nobody knew he was going to be king, but he was second in line for the throne and would be uncle to the presumptive queen charlotte, that is why they probably accept it. That and getting Hanover back and really wanting peace. Napoleon would probably have a harder time swallowing the match then the British. Switching denomination for marriage was fairly common in the high nobility and royalty, that isn't really an obstacle.

Switching religion wasn't that common--especially in the late 18th century and early 19th century. There are exceptions, of course, but there are also all sorts of possible matches floundered because of a bride's Catholic religion. And especially among the royal houses, it was prevalent. You had issues of religion even lingering almost into the early 20th century.

You also have to deal with a Britain that still holds penalties against the Catholics, I simply don't see the marriage being popular all, even if there is peace attached to it.

You'd need a reason for him to accept it. I would expect Parliament to raise a storm, too. Even as her uncle and behind her in the succession, he never saw the need to take a wife until Charlotte was dead and suddenly it was a race between all of the brothers to sire the next heir of Britain. The only thing that might entice him to take Napoleon's daughter as his wife is if he could wrangle an increase of his allowance. All of George III's sons were notorious spendthrifts, and one reason many of them sought marriages following Charlotte's death was not just to be the one to sire the next heir to the throne, but also to get an increase in the annuities. Given these were voted by Parliament, I wouldn't see them budging on the issue of increasing Clarence's allowance; they certainly didn't IOTL, as even when he married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen: he eventually got a raise, but not as much as he wanted, and he was refused twice. A Francophobic Parliament isn't likely to very sympathetic.

Then there's the whole issue of George III: he had his bouts of madness, but as I can recall, he was lucid c. 1806, with the Ministry of All Talents. Given his attitude towards Napoleon and the whole revolution (he refused to address his own daughter as Queen of Wurttemberg because he didn't accept the dissolution of Holy Roman Empire), he's never going to agree to match, which is necessary according to the Royal Marriages Act. There is the provision that if the sovereign has refused permission, one can declare their intention to marry to the Privy Council, unless both houses of Parliament disapprove of the match... but once again, you run afoul. Such a match is going to have bitter divisions.

Also, I don't see the restoration of Hannover being that much of a catch. The British public certainly didn't care about it. It was seen more as an unwelcome attachment more than anything.

I think there's way too much stacked against it for the match succeed. Napoleon is better off keeping Russia friendly, or at least neutral, and wearing Britain down to accept a fait accompli. If he manages to secure Joseph on the Spanish throne (or avoids the peninsular war all together), in due time, Britain will certainly start to feel the squeeze. If British armies end up going through the meat grinder for Spain, it might turn public opinion against the war and the need for peace. The Continental Blockade wasn't wholly successful on Napoleon's part, but in the long term being cut off from European markets isn't going to be very good for Britain.
 
Napoleon marry Marie Louise only in 1810 but he can get a very good match for his heir much earlier, considering who Eugene de Beauharnais (Napoleon's stepson and adoptive son) married Augusta of Bavaria in Janauary of 1806 so and Eugene's second cousin Stephanie (also adopted by Napoleon) married the heir of the Gran Duke of Baden few monts later and Jerome married Catharina of Württemberg in the follow year so if Napoleon will search a royal bride for his son and heir he will likely be able to secure an engagement in the late 1805 (after Austerlitz) at the latest
 
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