WI: Napoleon III assassinated in 1858

A two year old Prince Imperial Napoleon becomes Napoleon IV, which leads to regency council...which is bad for France since France in the 19th century is hilariously unstable politically.

On the one hand that's true, but on the other hand to have anyone other than Napoleon III in charge is good for France. He acted so incompetently in so many ways.

I agree that the time when the Prince Impérial is crowned will be incredibly awkward, though, as the various feuding French political factions will suddenly find the political power they'd accumulated in the Emperor's absence taken away from them and put in the hands of the newly crowned Napoleon IV. I can imagine that there would be attempts to turn the Bonapartes into constitutional monarchs in their absence. Whether or not those attempts would be successful, I don't claim to know.
 
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