Hortense did not want to go to Holland, with Louis,
but her stepfather insisted. She was
happier there than she expected but her husband’s difficult personality made
life impossible for her. Their first son
Napoleon Charles died of a childhood illness. Her third son Louis Napoleon would eventually
become Napoleon III.
Hortense was popular in Holland, but she managed to
get away from it, back to Paris, after her son’s death. She loved Paris and enjoyed artistic pursuits
such as painting and music. In 1810, her
mother was divorced by Napoleon who then married Marie Louise of Austria… Hortense remained loyal to him and part of the
court... though she spent time with Josephine as well. Eugene also remained loyal to his step
father, though he knew that the divorce was very painful for his mother. Both of
his step children were closer to him than his difficult and rebellious
siblings.
Around this time, Louis was
removed from the Dutch throne and Hortense was able to return to life in
France, separated from her husband. She
was one of the godmothers of Napoleon’s legitimate son, the King of Rome... but
by the time of his baptism, she had been having an affair with a man she really
loved, Charles de Flahaut... and was pregnant by him. She retired from court for a time, on the excuse
of ill health and went to Switzerland, and there she secretly had her baby son…
Charles Auguste Du Morny. The child was reared
by his paternal grandmother Adelaide de Flahaut
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