By that I mean a legitimate one, since even among his documented bastard offspring I can only find ONE boy (born in Naples in 1807 to Maria Giulia Colonna).
Joseph saw himself as Napoléon's legitimate successor, and refused the offer of the Crown of Italy because he hoped to succeed Napoléon in France. One problem, Napoléon never seems to have regarded Joseph in this light. I've never been able to figure out if this was because Joe had no son to follow him, or if it had to do with Joseph being the co-leader of the "bash Josèphine" brigade (alongside Madame Mère). Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Joseph was the one who was nagging Napoléon to divorce Josèphine (when he returned from Egypt, before he became emperor etc) in order to sire a son - something Joe himself had clearly failed in.
Either way, say Joseph HAS a son by Julie Clary. The Clarys and Beauharnaises seem to have gotten on reasonably well - two of Julie's relatives married Beauharnais or Tascher de la Pagerie cousins OTL - and beyond Julie's complaint about bearing Josèphine's train at the coronation, I can't find anything about what the two women's relationship was like. What I do know was that Joseph wasn't exactly the paternal type, since it was Julie who raised Charlotte and Zénaïde. And the couple seem to have lived apart for most of the First Empire's duration.
So, how would the birth of Prince Charles François Napoléon Jules affect things? If at all? Would Joe be more involved with his son than what he was with his girls? Would Napoléon see the boy as his heir? Or would Louis' sons still be regarded as Napoléon's heirs? And how would Napoléon's nephew affect his dad and uncle's relationship? For instance, would Napoléon insist on posting Joe to Naples/Madrid and keeping the boy in Paris to be educated? Or would the boy be taken along to whichever crown his dad's wearing today?
PS: For the sake of sanity, let's keep everything else until 1810 more-or-less as OTL (with regards to births, marriages and deaths in the Bonaparte family)
Joseph saw himself as Napoléon's legitimate successor, and refused the offer of the Crown of Italy because he hoped to succeed Napoléon in France. One problem, Napoléon never seems to have regarded Joseph in this light. I've never been able to figure out if this was because Joe had no son to follow him, or if it had to do with Joseph being the co-leader of the "bash Josèphine" brigade (alongside Madame Mère). Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Joseph was the one who was nagging Napoléon to divorce Josèphine (when he returned from Egypt, before he became emperor etc) in order to sire a son - something Joe himself had clearly failed in.
Either way, say Joseph HAS a son by Julie Clary. The Clarys and Beauharnaises seem to have gotten on reasonably well - two of Julie's relatives married Beauharnais or Tascher de la Pagerie cousins OTL - and beyond Julie's complaint about bearing Josèphine's train at the coronation, I can't find anything about what the two women's relationship was like. What I do know was that Joseph wasn't exactly the paternal type, since it was Julie who raised Charlotte and Zénaïde. And the couple seem to have lived apart for most of the First Empire's duration.
So, how would the birth of Prince Charles François Napoléon Jules affect things? If at all? Would Joe be more involved with his son than what he was with his girls? Would Napoléon see the boy as his heir? Or would Louis' sons still be regarded as Napoléon's heirs? And how would Napoléon's nephew affect his dad and uncle's relationship? For instance, would Napoléon insist on posting Joe to Naples/Madrid and keeping the boy in Paris to be educated? Or would the boy be taken along to whichever crown his dad's wearing today?
PS: For the sake of sanity, let's keep everything else until 1810 more-or-less as OTL (with regards to births, marriages and deaths in the Bonaparte family)