WI/PC: Beauharnais Portugal or/and Belgium

As it says on the tin: Napoléon's stepson Eugène de Beauharnais had two sons of his own, Auguste and Maximilien. Auguste was at one point in the 1830 Revolution considered for king of the Belgians, and although this didn't happen, four years later, he married the young queen of Portugal, D. Maria II. His brother, Maximilien, married a Russian grand duchess (despite his mother (a Princess of Bavaria)'s entreaties not to, out of fears that the Beauharnaises would become Russified and, worse still, to her Catholic eyes, Orthodox), and the Beauharnais did reasonably well at the Russian court until the Revolution.

However, the line of the Empress Joséphine through which most modern royals descend from her, is through Eugène's eldest daughter and her namesake, who married the likewise parvenu Bernadotte crown prince of Sweden.

So, what would Europe look like if we got a Beauharnais (instead of a Coburg) Belgium/Portugal? I assume Auguste wouldn't be eligible to marry D. Maria II, so the empress might promote her younger brother instead. Where might Auguste marry? And how would Europe react to a remnant of Imperial France getting a throne? Sure, they liked the Beauharnais much more than the Bonapartes (although that might've been because of Joséphine's personality and Eugène's marital connections), but let's be serious, would he be in the same parvenu boat as the Bernadottes for a while?
 
As it says on the tin: Napoléon's stepson Eugène de Beauharnais had two sons of his own, Auguste and Maximilien. Auguste was at one point in the 1830 Revolution considered for king of the Belgians, and although this didn't happen, four years later, he married the young queen of Portugal, D. Maria II. His brother, Maximilien, married a Russian grand duchess (despite his mother (a Princess of Bavaria)'s entreaties not to, out of fears that the Beauharnaises would become Russified and, worse still, to her Catholic eyes, Orthodox), and the Beauharnais did reasonably well at the Russian court until the Revolution.

However, the line of the Empress Joséphine through which most modern royals descend from her, is through Eugène's eldest daughter and her namesake, who married the likewise parvenu Bernadotte crown prince of Sweden.

So, what would Europe look like if we got a Beauharnais (instead of a Coburg) Belgium/Portugal? I assume Auguste wouldn't be eligible to marry D. Maria II, so the empress might promote her younger brother instead. Where might Auguste marry? And how would Europe react to a remnant of Imperial France getting a throne? Sure, they liked the Beauharnais much more than the Bonapartes (although that might've been because of Joséphine's personality and Eugène's marital connections), but let's be serious, would he be in the same parvenu boat as the Bernadottes for a while?

Contrary to the Bernadottes, there are not other claimants to the throne for the *Beauharnais. Integration to the "royal society" would go more smoothly. Of course, they are lower status vis-a-vis the other royal dynasties, but they are not as despised as the Orléans, for example.
 
Contrary to the Bernadottes, there are not other claimants to the throne for the *Beauharnais. Integration to the "royal society" would go more smoothly. Of course, they are lower status vis-a-vis the other royal dynasties, but they are not as despised as the Orléans, for example.

Well, I mean Eugène and Stéphanie's kids didn't do too badly OTL - even if it was on the lower end of the totem pole for most - Princes of Hechingen, Sigmaringen and Urach, for instance. But his sons netted a reigning queen and a Russian grand duchess, and his daughters, even if one married a Bernadotte, were a queen-consort and an empress (albeit on the fringes of the monarchical world). Interestingly enough, the Belgians' native choice - the duke of Arenberg (I think it's the same guy) - was married to a niece of Josephine. Granted, it was on the Tascher de la Pagerie side of the family, and he later divorced her - I can't find a reason why, I would guess a combination of their childlessness and the fact that the Bourbons were back on top? (although she married again, and produced two kids with her new husband, despite being close to forty at the time (1826 and 1830); while he had a boatload with his new wife, so I guess they were just a poor match).
 
So, what would Europe look like if we got a Beauharnais (instead of a Coburg) Belgium/Portugal? I assume Auguste wouldn't be eligible to marry D. Maria II, so the empress might promote her younger brother instead. Where might Auguste marry? And how would Europe react to a remnant of Imperial France getting a throne? Sure, they liked the Beauharnais much more than the Bonapartes (although that might've been because of Joséphine's personality and Eugène's marital connections), but let's be serious, would he be in the same parvenu boat as the Bernadottes for a while?

I'm sorry. I'm a bit confused by this part. Auguste did marry Maria IOTL, receiving the title of Prince Consort of Portugal in 1834, but he died only two months later. So, I assume you're asking what would happen if he survived.

If Auguste managed to produce a heir to Maria he would, according to Portuguese custom, become king jure oxoris (by right of his wife), which would officially make him co-ruler of Portugal together with his wife. In practice, however, this would be of little consequence since Portuguese Kings jure oxoris were actually completely powerless and faced constant pressures from all sectors of society to stay out of politics. In fact, the reason a Beauharnais out of all people was chosen to be the Queen's husband, was precisely because his house was so powerless that they couldn't possibly count as an external influence on Portuguese politics.

Maria and Ausguste's children would be considered to belong to the house of Braganza-Beauharnais, with emphasis on the Braganza, so I don't think it really counts as "a remnant of Imperial France getting a throne". The rest of Europe would likely be just ok with it.
 
I'm sorry. I'm a bit confused by this part. Auguste did marry Maria IOTL, receiving the title of Prince Consort of Portugal in 1834, but he died only two months later. So, I assume you're asking what would happen if he survived.

I was actually talking about Auguste being ineligble if he became the king of Belgium, since Portugal requires that the consort reside in the country with the queen i.e. he can't rule Belgium from Lisbon or Portugal from Brussels.

But thanks for answering the rest of the question. However, I would wonder about Auguste being toothless. Fernando II (like other Coburgs) used his wife's constant state of pregnancy to carve out a niche for himself. And then he got the regent job when D. Maria II died in childbed. So would Auguste be entrusted with a similar job?
 
But thanks for answering the rest of the question. However, I would wonder about Auguste being toothless. Fernando II (like other Coburgs) used his wife's constant state of pregnancy to carve out a niche for himself. And then he got the regent job when D. Maria II died in childbed. So would Auguste be entrusted with a similar job?

It really depends on what you mean by "carving out a niche". Fernando II of Portugal was mostly known in the kingdom as a patron of the arts and sciences. It's true that he effectively ruled the country during the later stages of some of his wife's pregancies, but I don't think there's a record of him taking any really important decisions by himself, even during these periods. Outside of these periods, he really left all political issues in the hands of his wife. Overall, I think his power was very limited, he wasn't even comparable to his cousin, Prince Albert of Great Britain, who appeared to have a much greater influence on Queen Victoria's rule than Fernando had on Maria's.

I don't know if this is because the Portuguese elites were more wary of external influences than the British ones, because Maria was less submissive as a result of having been raised by stubborn liberals, or because Fernando himself was more of a passive figure, prefering to live a more intelectual life without the worries of ruling a kingdom. I'm personally inclined to believe that it was because of this last reason, so it's actually possible that Auguste ITTL may get to be more influential than Fernando was in ours.

And yes, I believe he would likely have become regent if Maria died before him. In the eyes of the Portuguese elites, he would be much less of a threat than Fernando, precisely due to the lack of any meaningful connections to powerful foreign houses. It's possible that other European royals would cringe a bit at that, but it would be just a temporary situation and Braganza would be back on the throne soon enough.
 
And yes, I believe he would likely have become regent if Maria died before him. In the eyes of the Portuguese elites, he would be much less of a threat than Fernando, precisely due to the lack of any meaningful connections to powerful foreign houses. It's possible that other European royals would cringe a bit at that, but it would be just a temporary situation and Braganza would be back on the throne soon enough.

Well, if he's regent/voice in government when his cousin still sets up the Second Empire, I could see there being interesting results.
 
Well, if he's regent/voice in government when his cousin still sets up the Second Empire, I could see there being interesting results.

Hum... indeed, I hadn't considered that. IOTL the Second French Empire was established in 1952, and Maria II died in 1953. That may make it more difficult for the Portuguese parliament to give Auguste the regency, but it might be possible if it's just for a short time (IOTL Fernando II's regency lasted only for 2 years until Pedro V came of age). If necessary, we can just have Maria die earlier or delay the Second Empire for a few years in order to get this.

Now, Portugal was a British puppet for most of the 19th century. Maybe having a French regent during an era of French imperial resurgence would lead to some people having different ideas. However, I'm unsure if it's really possible that they'd go beyond that, ideas...
 
Hum... indeed, I hadn't considered that. IOTL the Second French Empire was established in 1952, and Maria II died in 1953. That may make it more difficult for the Portuguese parliament to give Auguste the regency, but it might be possible if it's just for a short time (IOTL Fernando II's regency lasted only for 2 years until Pedro V came of age). If necessary, we can just have Maria die earlier or delay the Second Empire for a few years in order to get this.

Now, Portugal was a British puppet for most of the 19th century. Maybe having a French regent during an era of French imperial resurgence would lead to some people having different ideas. However, I'm unsure if it's really possible that they'd go beyond that, ideas...

I don't think it needs to be tweaked TOO much. Àuguste married D. Maria in 1834/1835 and died 2 months later; she married Fernando in 1836 and had Pedro V in 1837. So, Maria's clearly fertile so we might be looking at her having a baby as early as 1835, which means a regency would be shorter than OTL. Also, one thing Fernando and Albert both have in common is that they got their wives knocked up with alarming regularity. Maria didn't seem to mind (if I die, I die in my post) but Victoria HATED pregnancy. Auguste might not necessarily emulate Fernando in that regard. I could see him wanting two boys - one for Pòrtugal, one for Germany/France if he hasn't signed it over to his little brother. With girls being a nice bonus.

Interestingly enough, when Pedro V contemplated dismissing the offer for Stephanie of Hohenzollern BECAUSE of her Beauharnais blood, it was Prince Albert who reminded him that there were scandals and mésalliances in their family too. So Pedro gave Stephanie another chance... just a pity they never had kids.
 
However, I find myself wondering if Auguste's survival will change anything in the marital landscape for her sisters? For instance, would Louis Philippe still be willing to marry his son off to Maria's sister, if Maria is wed to Napoléon's step-grandson (rather than two of his children's brother(-in-law). I wonder if Portuguese ties to France during the Second Empire will mean anything though?
 
So I was posting in another thread, and I just realized something.

Likewise, the Beauharnais connection in Portugal might make the Bragança infantas unpalatable to the French court (and if the marriage between Francisca and a Orléans boy still goes through, it probably won't be the third son of the premier prince du sang.
And what's happening in Portugal actually affects three marriages of Louis Philippe's kids (Nemours, Joinville and Clémentine): Auguste de Beauharnais died in 1835, Maria II remarried to Ferdinand of Coburg in 1836, Nemours married a Coburg in 1840 and Clémentine married in 1843.

Were Auguste to survive, the Coburg matches aren't so appealing. Sure, they're connected to the future Queen of England, but butterflies could mean that the Belgian Revolution is crushed or the crown ends up on someone (not Coburg)'s head - Hell, Nemours might even get it if his dad isn't busy being king of France. All in all, the Coburg-Kohàrys would be little more than German princes with large estates in Hungary.

In other words, even if Max DOESN'T wind up as Belgian king, Auguste surviving can set all sorts of changes in motion. Obviously Ferdinand of Coburg might be offered around - with his estates in Hungary he might wind up married to Archduchess Hermine of Austria, daughter of the Palatine (even though a Coburg prince described her as ugly and none too healthy IIRC). But if the Portuguese have a Beauharnais king instead of a Coburg one, it makes them little more than nephews of the Belgian king and cousins of Britain's queen. Obviously, we might see Leopold (Ferdinand's younger brother) be more successful in his suit of Queen Isabel II. France didn't want Britain being overmighty in Iberia (there was already a Coburg king in Portugal, they didn't need one in Madrid too) OTL, so TTL they might be willing to consider it. Although I could see Louis Philippe still trying to snag Isabel for Montpensier...
 
So, what would Europe look like if we got a Beauharnais (instead of a Coburg) Belgium/Portugal? I assume Auguste wouldn't be eligible to marry D. Maria II, so the empress might promote her younger brother instead. Where might Auguste marry? And how would Europe react to a remnant of Imperial France getting a throne? Sure, they liked the Beauharnais much more than the Bonapartes (although that might've been because of Joséphine's personality and Eugène's marital connections), but let's be serious, would he be in the same parvenu boat as the Bernadottes for a while?

But at least Belgian part would mean that Belgium is not united with the Netherlands after Napoleonic wars and has extra 15 years of independence. What are implications for Europe?
 
A conveniently/worryingly nearby jumping off point for Bonapartes (to the French and English, I'd guess); no Old Man Nestor (Leopold I) sitting in Brussels attempting/succeeding to snatch up valuable brides (queens of Portugal, Spain and Britain) for his otherwise ordinary nephews (I'm not a fan of the Coburgs' usurpation of their wives' power by keeping her constantly with child)...
Chances of Belgium being a British friend in this scenario are likewise slim, so perhaps Britain focuses more attention on good relations sith the Dutch?
 
Contrary to the Bernadottes, there are not other claimants to the throne for the *Beauharnais. Integration to the "royal society" would go more smoothly. Of course, they are lower status vis-a-vis the other royal dynasties, but they are not as despised as the Orléans, for example.
The Beauharnais were considered the best between the relatives of Napoleon and Josephine and Eugene were well regarded also between Napoleon's enemies, and that plus the royal matches made by both Eugene and Stephanie (and the fact who their kids had neither the blood or the surname of Bonaparte) helped a lot their kids (specially that of Eugene).
If Auguste was able to get the throne of Belgium, Maximilian is a good candidate for Maria of Portugal and I think Louise of Orleans would be at least a strong candidate for marrying Auguste, King of Belgium
 
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But at least Belgian part would mean that Belgium is not united with the Netherlands after Napoleonic wars and has extra 15 years of independence. What are implications for Europe?
Considering that the Dutch have lost the industrious southern provinces earlier, the great powers should be willing to compensate them somehow. Perhaps with a colony?
 
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