Ruling royal descendants of the Bonaparte family

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In 2021, there was a lovely exhibition of Napoleon Bonaparte in Liège, Belgium.
On the exhibition, one corner of the royal descendants of the Bonaparte family
immediately took my attention. That's why I wanted to make a  "royal" family post.


part of the exhibition in Liège in 2021


What does King Philippe of Belgium, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, 
King Carl XIV Gustav of Sweden, King Harald of Norway and Queen
Margrethe II of Demark in common? They are all descendants of 
Empress Joséphine. 

Belgium


King Philippe of Belgium's parents are King Albert II of Belgium and Queen Paola.
Through his father, King Philippe is a descendant of the Bonaparte family.

The mother of King Albert II of Belgium was Princess Astrid of Sweden. Her father,
Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, was a grandson of Joséphine of Leuchtenberg,
herself a daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, a son of Empress Joséphine.


Denmark

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was born as the daughter of King Frederick IX of
Denmark and Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Through Princess Ingrid, Queen Margrethe
also is a descendant of Joséphine of Leuchtenberg. 



Luxembourg

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg is via his mother, Princess Josephine Charlotte of
Belgium, a grandson of Princess Astrid of Sweden and thus also a descendant of
Joséphine of Leuchtenberg.


Norway

The mother of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Märtha of Sweden, was the
sister of Princess Astrid of Sweden and thus the aunt of King Bauduin of Belgium,
Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of Belgium and King Albert II of Belgium.

King Harald V of Norway also is a descendant of Josephine of Leuchtenberg. 
King Harald V of Norway is a great-grandson of King Edward VII of the
United Kingdom and a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II 


Sweden

King Carl XIV Gustav of Sweden also is a descendant of Joséphine of
Leuchtenberg, the granddaughter of Empress Joséphine.




parts of the exhibition in Liège, Belgium in 2021


Between past and present

This picture and all the royal descendants made me curious for the history of the
Bonaparte family. How could their family spread over Europe during the years? 



parts of the exhibition in Liège, Belgium in 2021



Eugène de Beauharnais

Many royals, who reign nowadays in Europe are descendants of Josephine
of Leuchtenberg and Eugène de Beauharnais. But who was he?

Eugène de Beauharnais was the son of Joséphine de Beauharnais and
Alexandre de Beauharnais. Through the second marriage of his mother, he
became the stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte. He also became Napoleon's 
adopted son, but not the heir to the imperial throne. Later Eugène went on 
militairy campaigns. 

Eugène married on 14 January 1806 to Princess Augusta of Bavaria. She was
the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. His father-in-law granted
him the titles: Duke of Leuchtenberg and
Prince of Eichstätt. 


Source picture: Wikipedia


Joséphine of Leuchtenberg

Joséphine of Leuchtenberg was the eldest child of Eugène de Beauharnais
and Princess Augusta of Bavaria. Her paternal grandmother and namesake
was Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Her
maternal grandfather was King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. 

Princess Joséphine married Crown Prince Oscar of Sweden by proxy at the
Palais Leuchtenberg in Munich on 22 May 1823. They also conducted a 
wedding in person on 19 June 1823 in Stockholm in Sweden. Already from 
her arrival in Sweden she became a social success. At the beginning the
relation between Prince Oscar and Princess Joséphine was warm but he 
started to have affairs which made Joséphine jealous.

Princess Joséphine was interested in gardening and painting. In 1844 she
became Queen of Sweden and Norway. She greatly influenced the interior
of the royal palace in Christiania, which was completed in 1849. 

In 1859, Oscar died and Joséphine became Queen Dowager. She lost all her
political influence and devoted herself to her charitable acitivities. 

In 1876, Queen Joséphine died in Stockholm at the age of 69. 



Source picture: Wikipedia



The Napoleon exhibition at Liège takes place from 3 April 2021 till 
9 January 2022 at the railway station of Liège-Guillemins. It really is a 
large and interesting expo.



Board of the exhibition in Liège in 2021


More about Napoleon and the Bonaparte family


More about Napoleon on this blog on this link. 

Shannon Selin also has a fantastic blog about Napoleon Bonaparte
on this link. 
Location: Frankrijk

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