Of Spanish origin, Eugénie de Montijo (1826-1920) became Empress of the French in 1853 after her marriage to Emperor Napoleon III. Known for her great beauty, she was the center of attention at the festivities of the Tuileries and Compiègne. Having given birth to the Imperial Prince in 1856, she became concerned with the future of the dynasty and began to play a political role, defending Catholic interests against the Emperor’s Italian policy, then pushing Napoleon III towards war with Prussia.
She was appointed regent in 1870. After the fall of the Empire, she retired to England where Napoleon III, upon his release, joined her. Accused of incompetence and insignificance, she has too often been described as stupid, an uncompromising Catholic, a bad advisor, and even a “cocotte” (a kept woman or prostitute). What is the truth?
Eugénie de Montijo: A ‘Grandee’ of Spain
Born on May 5, 1826, in Granada, Spain, to a Spanish aristocrat and an American mother, Eugenia María de Montijo de Guzmán was raised in Paris at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Frequenting high society of the time, she met President-Prince Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte at a reception at the Élysée Palace. The latter fell under Eugénie’s charm and courted her assiduously for two years. In 1853, she finally agreed to marry the now Emperor Napoleon III.
To the French, she was clearly nothing but an intriguer, a “cocotte” who had succeeded in achieving her goals by getting herself married to an Emperor who had only received polite but firm refusals from European courts. Even his uncle, “King” Jérôme, had refused him the hand of his daughter, Princess Mathilde. Endowed with a solid religious education, she was an accomplished young aristocrat.
To this was added a dazzling beauty, an unassailable virtue, and also an ambitious and cunning personality. A socialite, her mother loved to show off her resplendent daughter in order to find her a promising union. While suitors were not lacking, the young woman seemed to be waiting for something better. Coquettish yes, but not frivolous. She quickly became a regular at the Élysée evenings offered by the President-Prince and quickly made herself noticed as early as 1851.
Emperor Napoleon III loved women and obtained what he wanted without much difficulty. Accustomed to courtesans, “grandes horizontales,” married women of the world, with Eugénie de Montijo everything was different. First, her name and titles that linked her to the Grandees of Spain. And finally, the young woman was not as ingenuous and naive as that. She knew Louis Napoleon’s reputation and refused to be the conquest of a night. From there came the legend of the 1853 marriage more or less forced by Eugénie. For Victor Hugo, if “the Eagle marries a Cocotte,” the English ambassador Lord Cowley gives the European sentiment: “the great adventurer has fallen prey to an adventuress.”
The Empress of Fashion and Arts
Eugénie took her new condition as Empress very seriously. Since Marie Antoinette, the wives of French monarchs had always had difficulty settling into this role. Joséphine, according to her, “unjustly” occupied the Queen’s place. Marie Louise would always have in mind the image of her beheaded great-aunt. Marie Amélie would try to live contrary to the queen to ward off fate. Eugénie would choose to walk in Marie Antoinette‘s footsteps. The last queen was a model for her, and she devoted a true cult to her. Didn’t she go so far as to have herself portrayed as Marie Antoinette? Like Marie Antoinette, she possessed strength of character, femininity, and a sensual and bewitching charm.
She loved to adorn herself. Crinolines, jewelry, and trinkets earned her the nickname “Falbala 1st.” She was eager for distractions, stays and holidays in spa towns like Plombières, for example, in Biarritz and Eugénie-les-Bains. She was passionate about Haussmann’s works and took an interest in the plans for what would become the Opéra Garnier. Her receptions were sumptuous, and she gained the recognition of her foreign counterparts by taking care of her image. Queen Victoria, Franz Joseph, Ali Pasha… all succumbed to her charm. Her beauty rivaled the legendary beauty of Elisabeth of Austria. Visconti created a Fountain of the 3 Graces for Bordeaux… we find Victoria, Eugénie, and Isabella of Spain there…
“Badinguette” Between Criticism and Oblivion
Her generosity was matched only by her spending. A good Catholic, she showed great generosity and concern for relieving the unfortunate. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, her son and only child, was born on March 16, 1856, and on this occasion, she founded an orphanage and a society to help small artisans get established. By decree, she obtained control of asylums and nurseries. In 1866, she bravely faced the risks of cholera contagion by visiting the victims.
Yet only her worst interventions are remembered. She viewed the French intervention in favor of Italian unity unfavorably. Why criticize her, for like all Catholics in France, she supported the Pope and was concerned about the future of the Papal States. She actively supported the Mexican affair and the disaster that followed. Yet if criticism flew, Napoleon III and his ministers trusted her by entrusting her with the regency twice.
Napoleon knew her character and firmness… didn’t she herself put his various mistresses in their place? The ministers appreciated her strength and energy and advocated for her presence at councils. Her presence at the inauguration of the Suez Canal was a success. The looming Franco-German conflict would condemn her to be, like her husband, responsible for the defeat.
Eugénie de Montijo’s Last Stand
On July 19, 1870, Napoleon III took command of operations and went to the Franco-Prussian front. Eugénie encouraged him and recommended that he return to Paris only victorious, not defeated. She knew Napoleon III was ill and thus acted in the manner of Anne of Austria, ready to do anything to save the interests of the Imperial Prince. She left the Palace of Saint-Cloud on August 7, 1870, to return to Paris and the Tuileries as soon as news of the successive reverses of the French army arrived. On September 2, news of the defeat at Sedan reached the Tuileries.
Napoleon III was a prisoner, and the ephemeral regent of the empire found herself alone at the helm of a regime ready to explode. On September 4, people called for the emperor’s dethronement, and the crowd pressed against the gates of the Tuileries. Eugénie had to traverse the entire Louvre to leave the Palace and escape the people. She found refuge in England, where she would die in exile in July 1920 at the age of 94.
Eugénie was a victim of the black legend that attaches to some of our historical personalities. Frivolous, extravagant, flighty… From her arrival in France to her hasty departure for exile, she was the prey of detractors who understood that to attack a regime and the imperial family, the simplest way was to choose a scapegoat. At the fall of the Second French Empire, they even went so far as to establish a fanciful inventory of her supposed jewels to blacken her image.
Yet, she was more astute than people believed. On October 23, 1870, she sent a letter to the King of Prussia asking him not to proceed with a territorial dismemberment of France. Eugénie transmitted the King’s response to Clemenceau in 1918. The King’s reasoned refusal would constitute in 1918 the ultimate argument that would allow France to recover its lost territory.
