Princess Eugénie | |||||
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Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen | |||||
Tenure | 13 September 1838 – 1 September 1847 | ||||
Born |
Milan |
22 December 1808||||
Died | 1 September 1847 Freudenstadt |
(aged 38)||||
Burial | 4 September 1847 Stiftskirche, Hechingen, Hohenzollern, Tyskland |
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Spouse | Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen | ||||
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House | Beauharnais | ||||
Father | Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg | ||||
Mother | Princess Augusta of Bavaria | ||||
Religion | Catholic |
Full name | |
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Eugénie Hortense Auguste Napoléone |
Eugénie Hortense Auguste Napoléone, known as Eugénie de Beauharnais, princess of Leuchtenberg (22 December 1808, Milan – 1 September 1847, Freudenstadt) was a Franco-German princess. She was the second daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria, and a member of the House of Beauharnais. In 1826 she married Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
Born and raised as a Catholic, Eugénie grew up in the Palais Leuchtenberg on Ludwigstraße in Munich and frequently spent the summer months with her parents at Schloss Eugensberg, a castle built by her father on Lake Constance (at what is now Salenstein). The family's behaviour was princely in every aspect - the French envoy Coulomb wrote in 1822: "Prince Eugène de Beauharnais lives in greater luxury than [Napoleon's] court". Their palace in Munich had been built by the famous Bavarian architect Leo von Klenze for over 2 million guilders. Besides Munich and Schloss Eugensberg, the family had manors at Eichstätt and Ismaning. On her father's death in 1824, Eugénie inherited Schloss Eugensberg.
On 22 May 1826 Eugénie married the Catholic Hereditary Prince Constantine of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in Eichstätt. Eugénie brought Hofkavalier Gustav von Billing (born in Leuchtenberg) to Hechingen as her financial advisor - he managed her large dowry on her mother's behalf and quickly won Constantine's trust as an advisor. From 1833 on, Eugénie and her husband lived at Schloss Lindich near Hechingen, the residence city of the House of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, though they also spent much of the summer months at Schloss Eugensberg, thus keeping in contact with her aunt Hortense and her cousin Louis Napoleon, who later became Napoleon III.