Topic summary
Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial
Royal Artillery
Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial (Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte; 16 March 1856 – 1 June 1879), also known as Louis-Napoléon, was the only child of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, and Empress Eugénie. After his father was dethroned and exiled in 1870, he moved to England, UK with his family. On his father's death in January 1873, he was proclaimed by the Bonapartist faction as Napoléon IV.
In England, he trained as a British Armyofficer. Keen to see action, he persuaded the British to allow him to participate in the Anglo-Zulu War. In 1879, serving with the British armed forces, he was killed in a fierce skirmish incident with a group of Zulu tribesmen. His death at a young age caused an international sensation and sent shockwaves throughout Europe, as he was the last serious dynastic hope for the restoration of the House of Bonaparte to the throne of France.