Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte (10 October 1802 – 5 May 1807) was the eldest son of

Louis Bonaparte Louis Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French c ...

and

Hortense de Beauharnais Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Kingdom of Holland, Queen of Holland as the wife of King Louis Bonaparte. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Joséphi ...

. His father was Emperor

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's younger brother; his mother was the daughter of Napoleon's first wife,

Joséphine de Beauharnais Joséphine Bonaparte (, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 Janua ...

Life

At the time of his birth, his uncle was the First Consul of France and childless. Napoleon Charles was his eldest nephew and was seen as a potential heir, but he died before reaching his fifth birthday on 5 May 1807 of

croup Croup ( ), also known as croupy cough, is a type of respiratory infection that is usually caused by a virus. The infection leads to swelling inside the trachea, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classic symptoms of "bar ...

. Napoleon Charles had two brothers: the youngest, Louis Napoleon, eventually became Emperor as

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

in 1852. The strong attachment that Napoleon showed towards the child, which was not repeated with his two younger brothers, gave rise to speculation that Napoleon-Charles was the son of a forbidden relationship between Napoleon and his stepdaughter Hortense.

Ancestry

References

1802 births 1807 deaths Napoleon Charles Bonaparte Napoleon Charles Bonaparte Sons of kings French royalty who died as children {{France-noble-stub