The son and heir of Napoleon III lives to his ascendancy and the Second Empire survives the Franco-Prussian War. Who would it be most fortuitous for Napoleon IV to marry in the interest of furthering the new dynasty?
Wives For Napoleon IV
- Thread starter EnglishCanuck
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In Milarqui's TL, he married one of the daughters of former Spanish queen regnant Isabella II (María del Pilar)
I believe in OTL Empress Eugenie and Queen Isabella both wished for this to happen and it still might have had both young people lived. The Prince Imperial marrying a Spanish Infanta (especially after the death of the Count of Chambord, when the Spanish Bourbon line was senior to the Orleanists) would probably many Legitimistes to the Imperial throne, since any heirs would be part Bourbon AND not descendants of Egalitie or Louis Phillipe.
In my TL I selected HRH Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert.
IIRC, they end up having five children between 1880 & 1892; four sons and one daughter.
Including one son born with hemophilia.
Joho.
Pretty inconceivable that Victoria would allow her youngest and favourite daughter to marry a foreign monarch (meaning she would have to move abroad)...let alone a Catholic.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=336485
Where the marriage of N.IV was discussed and why a Spanish infanta would be a good match
Where the marriage of N.IV was discussed and why a Spanish infanta would be a good match
Pretty inconceivable that Victoria would allow her youngest and favourite daughter to marry a foreign monarch (meaning she would have to move abroad)...let alone a Catholic.
Well, there was talk of marriage plans between them, and Vicky is his godmother.
What about Louise of Sweden?
I'm not sure, but I think Napoléon III, who constantly pursued a politic of conciliation and alliance with the United Kingdom (Crimea, China, free trade ...), favored the British match, namely Princess Beatrice, and a marriage was in the air before the Prince got killed in 1879.
In my TL I selected HRH Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert.
IIRC, they end up having five children between 1880 & 1892; four sons and one daughter.
Including one son born with hemophilia.
Joho
Interesting idea
I had thought that pursuing a British marriage would be a dynastically good idea (Victoria was the "Grandmother of Europe" after all) but I think it would really depend on what Vicky and Euginie thought of it. Would either be ok with a non-Catholic marrying a Catholic? I mean its plausible, but that would most likely be a stumbling bloc.Interesting idea! Had not heard of this and will certainly look more into it
To me, this option would make the most sense. Shoring up dynastic ties with a continental power which would be an ally and a potential counterweight to Germany seems like an ideal solution.
Pretty inconceivable that Victoria would allow her youngest and favourite daughter to marry a foreign monarch (meaning she would have to move abroad)...let alone a Catholic.
One of her daughters did marry an orthodox.
Who?
I think you are confusing with her granddaughters, several of whom converted to Orthodoxy - Alix and Ella of Hesse and Sophie of Prussia. I am excluding Victoria Melita as she did not convert during her grandmother's lifetime.
There would have been a national outcry at the marriage of Princess Beatrice to a Roman Catholic. Note the public demonstrations against her daughter Princess Ena's (she wasn't even a British princess by birth!) marriage in 1906 to the Spanish King and her conversion to Catholicism.
I don't know what the internal rules were for French Consorts but presumably the Vatican would have required an Empress of the French to be Catholic. Victoria wouldn't have allowed her daughter to convert.
I don't think that would be workable. The Bonapartes were desperately looking for better ways to legitimizing their dynasty in Europe, marrying a North American captain of industry without royal blood would not bring them the status they desperately craved.
If he gets to the throne he will certainly marry someone from a royal house. Could the marriage candidates be different in a scenario where N III is killed in 1858, the Italian war is butterflied away and France does generally better in terms of foreign policy during the sixties?
In such a scenario a marriage alliance with Austria could be possible, are there available princesses?
In such a scenario a marriage alliance with Austria could be possible, are there available princesses?
Pretty inconceivable that Victoria would allow her youngest and favourite daughter to marry a foreign monarch (meaning she would have to move abroad)...let alone a Catholic.
During the 1870s, there was some talk of a marriage between him and Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice.
Victoria also reportedly believed that it would be best for "the peace of Europe" if the prince became Emperor of France.
What about
Princess Charlotte of Prussi, OTL Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Viktoria of Prussi, OTL Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe
Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, the third child and third daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.
An English princess married to a French prince, it's not unprecedented, see Princess Henrietta of England, first wife of Louis XIV's brother :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_of_England
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_of_England
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An English princess married to a French princess, it's not unprecedented, see Princess Henrietta of England, first wife of Louis XIV's brother :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_of_England
On this poin England wasn't so extremely anti-Catholic.