WI Louis-Napoleon, Prince Imperial lives?

Say he avoids the ambush or has more men with him to fight off the Zulu. IOTL he expressed a wish to return home within a couple of years.

So he returns home, and the monarchists now have their dream: a smart, young, charismatic war hero. Does he follow his father's route into elective politics or just wait for some of IOTL's close National Assembly votes on republic v. monarchy to go his way?
 
I think that by then the monarchists had given up on the Bonapartes, which is a shame, since they're the coolest of the three dynasties. I think that the Prince Imperial would wait for an invitation to take the throne, which would not be forthcoming.
 
Why not go into elective politics then? Fuse moderate liberals and conservatives under his banner or coopt some of the existing parties. Sure, the premiership (after a few years rising through the ranks, granted) has little glamour, but a lot of executive power to compensate. Or run for the presidency after a few years, then referendum time. It would probably calm nerves: "Chill guys. Let me prove myself first, and then decide if you want me either running the country or reigning over it."
 
jakewilson said:
I think that by then the monarchists had given up on the Bonapartes, which is a shame, since they're the coolest of the three dynasties. I think that the Prince Imperial would wait for an invitation to take the throne, which would not be forthcoming.

Well, Bonapartism will probably be a bit stronger during the Third Republic if the Prince Imperial survives. But I agree the chances he would rose to the throne are small... Not to mention he couldn't go back to France as there was a law that banished members of former ruling families from ever setting foot on the Metropole.

Furthermore, the Bonapartes fell into Republicanism later on OTL. Except with the claimant Victor Bonaparte who said he was ready to restore the Empire, they never really pushed for an Imperial Restoration. A surviving Prince Imperial might be more combative, but I doubt he would push for a Third Empire if he doesn't have enough support to do so.
 
Why not go into elective politics then? Fuse moderate liberals and conservatives under his banner or coopt some of the existing parties. Sure, the premiership (after a few years rising through the ranks, granted) has little glamour, but a lot of executive power to compensate. Or run for the presidency after a few years, then referendum time. It would probably calm nerves: "Chill guys. Let me prove myself first, and then decide if you want me either running the country or reigning over it."

Reminds me of Decades of Darkness Napoleon II - instead of making himself Emperor (and the obvious living long enough) he's the first President of the Second Republic. When he gets discredited fighting against the super-Germany TTL it's his cousin who becomes Napoleon III and has a more successful reign.
 
Working within the existing system and getting hands-on political experience would probably calm a lot of nerves. The problem is getting a monarchist majority in the National Assembly: not necessarily immediate restoration, but repealing that law. Ferry would sooner run naked down the Champs Elysee at high noon than allow the Prince's return.
 
From what I heard that Queen Victoria took a fancy for this young man and wanted him to marry one of her daughters (I forget which one).

Also didn't alot of the support for the Bonaparte's disappear after the Prince Imperial die because his heir was disliked by the French People
 
From what I heard that Queen Victoria took a fancy for this young man and wanted him to marry one of her daughters (I forget which one).

Also didn't alot of the support for the Bonaparte's disappear after the Prince Imperial die because his heir was disliked by the French People

She treated him as a surrogate son and arranged for him to be trained as an artillery officer at Sandhurst, where he graduated near the top of his class. Beatrice wasn't openly discussed at the time, but Victoria would have been quite favorable to the idea. It would have to wait till Gladstone or Salisbury became PM because Dizzy was anti-Bonapartist.
 
She treated him as a surrogate son and arranged for him to be trained as an artillery officer at Sandhurst, where he graduated near the top of his class. Beatrice wasn't openly discussed at the time, but Victoria would have been quite favorable to the idea. It would have to wait till Gladstone or Salisbury became PM because Dizzy was anti-Bonapartist.
And one well-placed Irish bomb later and the House of Bonaparte rules Britannia.:D
 
He could return home after 1879, but if his popularity is too great, the governement could become fearing of a monarchical return and the Law of Exile of 1886 could be voted earlier.
Unless Boulanger manages to take power or that WWI turns worse for France (as in Italy).
 
He could return home after 1879, but if his popularity is too great, the governement could become fearing of a monarchical return and the Law of Exile of 1886 could be voted earlier.
Unless Boulanger manages to take power or that WWI turns worse for France (as in Italy).

You'd have to prevent Ferry from becoming PM, since he was extremely thorough in his anti-monarchist purges.

Boulanger: Not happening, given that the Prince was a liberal.
 
Queen Victoria

Was bitterly opposed to her youngest daughter Beatrice marrying full stop; she only consented to her eventual marriage to Prince Henry of Battenberg because he consented to make his home with her and agreed to effectively become part of his household.
Beatrice tried in vain for several years to convince her mother to allow her to marry before the Queen finally gave her consent, during one period when Beatrice was pushing especially hard, it is noted by Beatrice’s official biographer that the two women went without speaking for a period of 7 months, when you consider that Beatrice acted as her mother’s unofficial secretary and companion you will realise how remarkable that is. Apparently during this time the two women communicated via servants!
Apparently Beatrice’s older sister the Crown Princess of Prussia was instrumental in making their mother see sense; she was favourable to the Battenberg family, she actively encouraged a relationship between her own daughter Victoria and Prince Alexander of Battenberg (Henry’s brother and for a brief time ruler of Bulgaria) before Bismarck put a stop to it.
This brings me onto the thread in relation to the idea of the Prince Imperial marrying Princess Beatrice.
It is of course a possibility; it was certainly rumoured, Queen Victoria was on very good terms with the Empress Eugenie and was apparently most saddened by the Prince Imperial’s death. Assuming that he had lived and wanted to marry Beatrice, I am sure that Queen Victoria would have only consented on the strict proviso that he agreed to give up all ambitions of establishing himself as the Emperor of the French, Queen Victoria would not contemplate allowing Beatrice to leave the UK on a long term basis.
Had he agreed and then gone back on his promise (as indeed Henry of Battenberg did) and still actively pursued the French throne, I am imagine he would have found that a certain rather difficult miserable elderly lady close to home who would take steps to sabotage his efforts to ensure that “Baby” as Beatrice was called by her mother for her entire life stayed close by.
Not to mention of course that the Crown Princess of Prussia, who was so pivotal in making her mother come round to the idea of letting Beatrice marry at all, would likely have not been so keen to assist if the eventual husband was a Bonaparte!
 
So scratch the marriage. Still, the question is getting those banishment laws repealed (if they were enacted by 1879?) and letting events go from there.
 
Two things;

One; IOTL, during the Dreyfus affair the current Bonapartist pretender, Victor, Prince Napoléon, nearly launched a coup/invasion to take advantage of the situation to reestablish the empire. ITTL if Napoléon, Prince Imperial were still alive there, and a 'war hero,' the coup might be launched.

Two; In regards to marriages and potential couples, though Napoléon was favored by many in Britain there was little to the rumors of him and Beatrice joining. However, Napoléon was known to be romantically involved with Maria del Pilar de Borbón y Borbón. As his father had married for love instead of political gain, and being raised in that atmosphere, if it is possible and perhaps likely that the Prince Imperial would follow the same route - assuming that Napoléon and Maria were that close.
 
Two things;

One; IOTL, during the Dreyfus affair the current Bonapartist pretender, Victor, Prince Napoléon, nearly launched a coup/invasion to take advantage of the situation to reestablish the empire. ITTL if Napoléon, Prince Imperial were still alive there, and a 'war hero,' the coup might be launched.

Two; In regards to marriages and potential couples, though Napoléon was favored by many in Britain there was little to the rumors of him and Beatrice joining. However, Napoléon was known to be romantically involved with Maria del Pilar de Borbón y Borbón. As his father had married for love instead of political gain, and being raised in that atmosphere, if it is possible and perhaps likely that the Prince Imperial would follow the same route - assuming that Napoléon and Maria were that close.

Could that lead to a Spanish house of Bonaparte?
 
Could that lead to a Spanish house of Bonaparte?

Possibly. It would depend on the exact chronology of events.

Do you mean a Bonaparte upon the throne of Spain, or simply a Bonapartist House within Spain?

EDIT: Here's a rough sketch of a TL:

1879: POD, Napoléon lives
1880: Napoléon returns to Britain. He and Marie are married within the year.
1881: Birth of Napoléon and Marie's first son Louis-Napoléon (Napoléon V)
1883: Birth of a second son, Victor-Napoléon
-
1898: Napoléon V, under an alias, volunteers for the Spanish and gains military experience fighting in the Spanish-American War
1899: Death of President Félix Faure during the Dreyfus Affair. Napoléon launches his coup, though he's thwarted by a similar effort made by Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans. The Third Republic survives, just barely. Alfred Dreyfus is NOT given a second trial.
1900-1901: French Civil War between Bonapartists, Orléanists, and republicans. Ultimately Napoléon IV is able to take Paris and institute the Third Empire.
1903: Marriage of Napoléon V to Princess Patricia of Connaught and Victor-Napoléon to Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain, securing France's ties to its two closest allies.
 
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The existence of a viable, popular and capable Bonaparte heir would have its impact within French politics even if he does nothing. As well as enlivening the Bonapartist party, everyone else would always be taking into account the prince across the water. One might imagine that Boulanger for example might go further than he did in OTL and seize power

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Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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