Louis-Napoléon | |||||
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Prince Imperial of France | |||||
Napoléon at age 22, 1878
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Head of the House of Bonaparte | |||||
Period | 9 January 1873 – 1 June 1879 | ||||
Predecessor | Napoleon III | ||||
Successor | Napoleon V | ||||
Born |
Paris, French Empire |
16 March 1856||||
Died | 1 June 1879 Zulu Kingdom (present-day KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) |
(aged 23)||||
Burial | Imperial Crypt, St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough | ||||
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House | Bonaparte | ||||
Father | Napoleon III | ||||
Mother | Eugénie de Montijo | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Full name | |
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Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph |
Styles of Napoléon, Prince Imperial |
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Reference style | His Imperial Highness |
Spoken style | Your Imperial Highness |
Alternative style | Sir |
Napoléon, Prince Imperial (full name: Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte, prince impérial de France; 16 March 1856 – 1 June 1879) was the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo. After his father was dethroned in 1870, he relocated with his family to England. On his father's death in January 1873, he was proclaimed Napoleon IV, Emperor of the French by the Bonapartist faction.
In England he trained as a soldier. Keen to see action, he successfully put pressure on the British to allow him to participate in the Anglo-Zulu War. In 1879, serving with British forces, he was killed in a skirmish with a group of Zulus. His early death sent shockwaves throughout Europe, as he was the last serious dynastic hope for the restoration of the Bonapartes to the throne of France.
Born in Paris, he was baptized on 14 June 1856, at Notre Dame Cathedral. His godfather was Pope Pius IX, whose representative, Cardinal Patrizi, officiated. His godmother was Queen Victoria, represented by Eugène de Beauharnais's daughter, Josephine, the Queen of Sweden.
His education, after a false start under the academic historian Francis Monnier, was, from 1867, supervised by General Frossard as governor, assisted by Augustin Filon, as tutor. His English nurse, Miss Shaw, who was recommended by Queen Victoria and taught the prince English from an early age; his valet, Xavier Uhlmann; and his inseparable friend Louis Conneau also figured importantly in his life. The young prince was known by the nickname "Loulou" in his family circle.