Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (née de Beauharnais) (10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837), Queen Consort of Holland, was a stepdaughter of Napoleon, wife of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland and the mother of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.
Hortense was born in Paris, France on 10 April 1783, the daughter of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and of his wife Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie. Her parents separated shortly after her birth. In 1794,...
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Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (née de Beauharnais) (10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837), Queen Consort of Holland, was a stepdaughter of Napoleon, wife of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland and the mother of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.
Hortense was born in Paris, France on 10 April 1783, the daughter of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and of his wife Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie. Her parents separated shortly after her birth. In 1794, her father was executed during the Reign of Terror and her mother was imprisoned in the Carmes prison. She was later released on 6 August, due to the intervention of her best friend Thérèse Tallien. Two years later her mother married Napoleon Bonaparte. Hortense was educated at the school of Madame Jeanne Campan at St-Germain-en-Laye together with Napoleon's youngest sister Caroline Bonaparte Murat. She was tall, slender with blonde hair, large blue eyes, a heart-shaped face and fine features. She had an elder brother, Eugène de Beauharnais....
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