Amélie Carette née Bouvet (1839–1926) was a French memoir writer and courtier. She was the daughter of Colonel Pierre-Auguste Bouvet (1809-1864) and the grandchild of Rear-Admiral

Pierre François Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve Pierre-François-Henri-Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve (28 December 1775, in Saint-Benoît, RéunionLevot, p.57Quintin (p.83) says 28 November 1775 – 18 June 1860, in Saint-ServanLevot, p.59Quintin, p.87) was a French Navy officer and privateer. ...

. In 1866, she married the rich politician Jean Pierre Henri Carette (1822–1883). She was the reader (lectrice) to

Empress Eugénie An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

of France 1864–1866, and filled the vacant position of Louise Poitelon du Tarde as lady-in-waiting (

Dame du Palais The Dame du Palais, originally only Dame, was an historical office in the Royal Court of France. It was a title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a female member of the French Royal Family. The position w ...

) in 1866–1870.Maxime Michelet:
L'impératrice Eugénie - Une vie politique
' In contrast to what was normally the case, she was housed in the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

rather than having her own residence and merely visiting the court during work hours. She was well-liked by the Empress, who often chose her to accompany her on incognito trips around Paris. She was described as bearing a remarkable likeness to the Empress. She is known in history as the author of her memoirs, ''Souvenirs intimes de la cour des Tuileries'', which described life at the French Imperial court of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

References

External links

* Carette, Madame:
Recollections of the court of the Tuileries
' (1890) * Carette, Madame:
My mistress, the Empress Eugénie; or, Court life at the Tuileries
' * Amélia Carette:
"La lectrice et l'impératrice" Marc Tardieu
' (2023) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carette, Amelie 1839 births 1926 deaths French ladies-in-waiting People of the Second French Empire 19th-century French memoirists French women memoirists Court of Napoleon III