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Auction: 14035 - Postal History, Autographs and Historical Documents
Lot: 3112

Historical Documents
Napoleon IV, Prince Imperial
1872 (16 April) A.L.S. written in French from Camden Place in Chislehurst to his friend Duperre, signed "Louis-Napoleon"; good to fine. Photo

Napoléon, Prince Imperial (1856 – 1879).
He 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, he was proclaimed "Napoleon IV" of France 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 shock waves throughout Europe, as he was the last serious dynastic hope for the restoration of the Bonapartes to the throne of France.

In 1870, at the commencement of the Franco Prussian War, The Empress Eugénie and her young son fled from Paris and sought refuge in Chislehurst, renting Camden Place from Nathaniel Strode for £300 per year. It was here that Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte came after his release in 1871

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Estimate
£400 to £500