Napoléon-Charles Bonaparte | |
Prince Royal of Holland | |
Full Name: | Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte |
House: | Bonaparte |
Father: | Louis I of Holland |
Mother: | Hortense de Beauharnais |
Birth Date: | 10 October 1802 |
Birth Place: | Paris, France |
Death Place: | The Hague, Holland |
Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte (10 October 1802 – 5 May 1807) was the eldest son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais. His father was Emperor Napoleon I's younger brother; his mother was the daughter of Napoleon's first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
At the time of his birth, his uncle was the First Consul of France and childless. Napoleon Charles was his eldest nephew and was seen as a potential heir, but he died before reaching his fifth birthday on 5 May 1807 of croup.
Napoleon Charles had two brothers: the youngest, Louis Napoleon, eventually became Emperor as Napoleon III in 1852.
The strong attachment that Napoleon showed towards the child, which was not repeated with his two younger brothers, gave rise to speculation that Napoleon-Charles was the son of a forbidden relationship between Napoleon and his stepdaughter Hortense.[1]