A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Hortense de Beauharnois Bonaparte, ex-Queen of Holland
HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNOIS BONAPARTE, EX-QUEEN OF HOLLAND,
Was born in 1783, daughter of the Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnois and Josephine, subsequently Empress of France. The vicomte married at an early age; his dissipated habits and unjustifiable conduct obliged his wife to separate herself from him for a time; during this period, the education and charge of her children devolved solely upon her. A reconciliation took place, and the married pair seem to have afterwards lived in the utmost domestic peace and happiness.
Upon the breaking out of the Revolution, the vicomte rendered himself obnoxious to the existing powers, and after undergoing a sad imprisonment, was executed by the guillotine, July 24th, 1794. The childish days of Hortense were thus clouded by severe afflictions. It would be superfluous to detail the well-known circumstances of Josephine's marriage with General Bonaparte, who, in his rapid Elevation to the imperial throne, bore with him to the highest worldly splendours the family de Beauharnois. Hortense received a brilliant education; and, both from her charms and position in life, was one of the most admired women in Paris. Her marriage was not one of her choice; Napoleon obliged her to give her hand to his brother Louis. This match took place on the 4th. of January, 1802; and never was a wedding more gloomy! Louis was an honourable, an amiable, a cultivated man; Hortense, one of the most fascinating women; yet both were averse to the union. Neither could estimate the merits of the other.
In 1806, Louis Bonaparte was made King of Holland by Napoleon; but Louis cared little for the show and state of royalty, and after a few years of discontent, having abdicated his nominal sovereignty in favour of his eldest son, Napoleon Charles, he appointed his wife Hortense regent She had left him, and gone to Pads to enjoy the pleasures of the court circle.
After Holland was incorporated with France, Hortense was obliged to relinquish the title of queen, and was usually styled Countess of St. Leu; yet she was recognised as the Ex-queen of Holland by many of the French writers of that time; she bore her reverses better than her exaltation; was an affectionate mother, and a devoted daughter; for many of her errors, the peculiar circumstances in which she was placed, are a palliation, if not an excuse.
She had a talent for making occasional poems for society. Her romances, for which she also composed the music, have been published in a collected form; some of these obtained great popularity. She died in 1847.
Hortense had three children—the above-mentioned Napoleon Charles, who died in childhood; Napoleon Louis, who was killed at an insurrection at Romagna in 1832; and Charles Louis Napoleon, now Emperor of the French, whose career has been one of extraordinary vicissitude.