The Prince Imperial Memorial is a memorial cross and battlefield in

Nqutu Nquthu is a town in Umzinyathi District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Village 24 km west-south-west of Barklieside and 53 km east of Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal The coal mining town of Dundee is situated in a ...

, KwaZulu-Natal,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It is dedicated to Napoléon, Prince Imperial of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

who made his

last stand A last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are defending a tactic ...

on the site in 1879 and was built on the spot where he died. The memorial was erected on the orders of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, who paid for it, in 1880.

Background

Napoléon, Prince Imperial was the only son 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 ...

Emperor of the French Emperor of the French (French: ''Empereur des Français'') was the title of the monarch and supreme ruler of the First and the Second French Empires. Details A title and office used by the House of Bonaparte starting when Napoleon was procla ...

. He fought for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and Queen Victoria was his godmother. On 1 June 1879 in Zululand, the Prince Imperial was ambushed by Zulu warriors and was killed after 18 assegai wounds. The Zulus did not desecrate the body as was their custom out of fear after seeing a necklace with the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

on that the Prince wore which they believed was a magical talisman.

Erection

The death of the Prince Imperial caused international outrage as Queen Victoria only authorised him to go providing the army kept him out of danger. Queen Victoria ordered the erection of a memorial on the spot where he died, paying for it personally. The cross was enscribed "'This cross is erected by Queen Victoria, in affectionate remembrance of Napoleon Eugene Louis Jean Joseph Prince Imperial, to mark the spot where, while assisting in a reconnaissance with the British troops, on the 1st June 1879, he was attacked by a party of Zulus, and fell with his face to the foe." When the memorial was finished, Zulu warriors saluted it with British Army soldiers. On the first anniversary of his death, his mother

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 ...

visited the site of her son's death. She kept a vigil all night and noticed she was being watched by Zulus who she believed to have been the ones who had killed her son.

Later history

On the centenary of the Prince Imperial's death in 1979, the French Ambassador to South Africa visited the memorial and a commemorative plaque was installed at the site. In 1996, KwaZulu-Natal promoted the route to the memorial that Empress Eugénie took as La Route du Prince Impérial, Louis Napoléon. In 2006, an interpretive wall was built nearby as part of the memorial site, funded by a Frenchman from Réunion. Traditionally on the Sunday closest to 1 June, French people and Zulus meet together at the site to commemorate the Prince.

References

{{Reflist Memorial crosses Monuments and memorials in South Africa 1880 establishments in South Africa Buildings and structures in KwaZulu-Natal House of Bonaparte Napoleon III Queen Victoria France–South Africa relations 1880 sculptures History of KwaZulu-Natal