NAPOLEON II

Well, whatever else one can say about Napoleon, he certainly loved his little son. It is a shame that little Napoleon could not be with his father in exile, but I guess St Helena was no place for a child.

initially marie louise was very in love  with napoleon...  and she was going to join him on elba... actually when countess walewska and her son came to see napoleon on elba he was disappointed to see it was not his wife... and told them to go because he was expecting her... but neipperg came into the picture and marie louise forgot all about napoleon...

a case of very fast forgetting....

The Archduchess Sophie was one of Franz's closest friends.  There were rumors that they had an affair, and that he was the father of her son Maximilian.  

In The Cactus Throne: The Tragedy of Maximilian and Carlotta, Richard O'Connor intimates that Reichstadt may well have been the father of not only Maximilian but Franz Josef as well.

Sophie was forced into marriage by her parents to the dottering Archduke Karl, whom she referred to as an "imbecile."  On taking leave of her parents, she defiantly told them, "I have resolved to be happy, and I am going to be."

She spent six childless years in Austria, and only began to bear children when Reichstadt reached maturity, and then in quick succession.

There was also supposedly a connecting staircase between her apartment and his.

"Undoubtedly she felt a deeper affection for him than anyone in her life then or later.  It became most fervent, according to various chroniclers of the Hapsburg court, during the summer of 1831, after the birth of...Franz Josef.  Sophie was then 26, the duke 20, but no one could or would say how far their intimacy had developed.  Few of her notes and letters to the duke can be found in the court archives; the supposition is that she later destroyed them, but one surviving note reads in part, "I kiss you with all my heart, " and was signed: "She who loves you deeply.""

After Reichstadt learned that he had TB, late in 1831, Sophie was constantly at his bedside, talking and reading to him.  Reichstadt died on July 22, 1832, 16 days after Maximilian's birth.  Sophie delivered the eulogy.

Of course this is all conjecture and there is no proof of anything, but Sophie was certainly a formidable type woman who would have taken charge of any situation.  Finding herself married into a family of imbeciles was, I'm sure, a shock.  After Reichstadt's death, she focused solely on her imperial responsibility (readying her sons for rule).

It is interesting to note that neither Franz Josef nor Maximilian exhibited any of the imbecility of Archduke Karl or his brother the emperor.

When Maximilian's body was returned to Austria, Sophie had him entombed in the Hapsburg crypt beside the Duke of Reichstadt.

Napoleon II died a virgin, he said it himself to a friend....

I'd prefer to believe that over the theory that he fathered Franz Josef and/or Maximillien. Even though i'd prefer to know the truth through DNA tests, i somehow dont think its possible for us to petition that.

In "The Crown of Mexico", Joan Haslip discussed the possibility that Franz was the father of Maximilian, who was Sophie's favorite son.  She stressed that there is no proof that Franz and Sophie were lovers, but its clear that Haslip believed that there was something to the rumors.  

Franz's friend Prokesch von Osten reported in his memoirs that Franz was a virgin when he died.  Haslip pointed out that Osten was a diplomat who worked for Metternich, Franz's great enemy.  Haslip believed that if Franz did have an affair with Sophie, he would have hidden it from Osten for fear that it would come to Metternich's ears.  She also noted that Sophie left a codicil in her will asking to be buried between Franz and Maximilian.    

while i would argue that franz joseph had (i think) a typical habsburg personality and he could have been his father's son (so to speak), maximillian did show signs of being different. he was so stubborn about going to mexico and being an emperror. he felt very cursed by his position of second son, he wanted so much to make a name for himself... that reminds me of the way the duke of reichstadt stubborned himself to lead that parade in the rain and paid with his own life for that... not that i'm saying that he was maximillian's father... we will never know, in the end...

i'm just pointing out some things

while i would argue that franz joseph had (i think) a typical habsburg personality and he could have been his father's son (so to speak), maximillian did show signs of being different. he was so stubborn about going to mexico and being an emperror. he felt very cursed by his position of second son, he wanted so much to make a name for himself... that reminds me of the way the duke of reichstadt stubborned himself to lead that parade in the rain and paid with his own life for that... not that i'm saying that he was maximillian's father... we will never know, in the end...

i'm just pointing out some things

  Maximilian was less Hapsburg in some manners, he was an ideologist, who had a building mania, but in my opinion that comes more from his Wittelsbach side of the family.... He got along pretty well with Sissi, she only disagredd on him wanting to be an emperor so badly.... However it was common for cadet to want to play a more decisive and important role, the same happen with Louis XVIII who always wanted to be king...

  I would love to think that Napoelon II  could have been father to both Franz Josef and Max, but there isn`t any proofs of that. But it would have been a great posthume victory for the great Napòleon to have a grandson sitting on the Hapsburg throne!!!!!!!
 

initially marie louise was very in love  with napoleon...  and she was going to join him on elba... actually when countess walewska and her son came to see napoleon on elba he was disappointed to see it was not his wife... and told them to go because he was expecting her... but neipperg came into the picture and marie louise forgot all about napoleon...

a case of very fast forgetting....

I don't think Marie Louise was ever in love with Napoleon.  She understood that she was given away to improve relations between France and Austria.  Before she married, she heard all sorts of horrible things about Napoleon.  Anyhow, she was taught to be obedient to him and she remained so until she met neipperg

Napoleon treated her quite well but he was far from being romantic.  Some of the books I read suggested that Metternich planted Neipperg on her route to Elba.  Anyhow, Marie Louise couldn't resist Neipperg.  Metternich send people to intercept all the messages Napoleon sent her while she was enjoying her time w/ her new love.  Plus, she found out Marie Walewska and her son just visited Napoleon and she was not at all pleased with that.  

i think marie louise was the kind of person that falls very easily in love. napoleon was not the most romantic man in the world, but he gave her everything she wanted, he showered her with gifts and he seemed to care a lot about her. if you want, she wasn't in love but she believed herself to be. she did want to go see him on elba but neipperg interfeared and then the whole thing about maria walewska... i don't think she would have minded walewska so much or ever thought of going to elba unless she really had some feelings... that they went out the window very quickly is another matter

I agree! She did have some feelings for Napoleon, and she might have thought to be deeply in love, but her feelings changed rapidly, Metternich did put Neipperg to get her out of napoleon`s way, her father and him never said anything agianst her affair with Neipperg. She was commiting adultery and being an archduchess made the crime even worse. However, nobody said anything about, or condemmed it!

  I guess she must have been a very simple woman because she never complain of being a mere Duchess in parma after being Empress to the largest empire after Charlemagne! Neipperg was a count but still was no match for an Archduchess. Her children were illegitimate for a long time. Her son the Prince of Montenuovo was the maitre de ceremonie of Francis Joseph and Sissi, and was very strict about ranks and an elitist, I have read that Sissi once siad that he was like that because he had suffer from the fact of being an illegitimate.

Prince Christopher Great portrait, you can see the resembalnace with his father I think!  

Yes, very much so....

There is no denying who his father is....

I wish that in all these romours about royals and famous ppl like Napoloen II would be solved if we just had everyone get their DNA checked dead or alive..........wouldnt that be great ?

I used to be very fond about learning about Napoleon himself and his son is very handsome.........too bad he died young. I saw both of their graves in Paris