The Politics of Waiting: The Imperial Couple, Napoleon III and Eugénie

Abstract

In the autumn of 1870, Queen Victoria and the Empress Eugénie had a memorable reunion. Nearly three months after Napoleon III’s consort had fled the chaos of war and the political upheaval in Paris, she received the ruler of her host country at her house, Camden Place, near Chislehurst in the county of Kent. ‘At the door’, wrote the Queen in her diary, ‘stood the poor Empress, in black, the Prince Imperial, and, a little behind, the Ladies and Gentlemen. The Empress at once led me through a sort of corridor or vestibule and an anteroom into a drawing room with a bow window. Everything was like a French house and many pretty things around. The Empress and the Prince Imperial alone came in, and she asked me to sit down near her on the sofa. She looks very thin and pale, but still very handsome. There is an expression of deep sadness in her face, and she frequently had tears in her eyes. She was dressed in the plainest possible way, without any jewels or ornaments, and her hair simply done, in a net, at the back. She showed the greatest tact in avoiding everything which might be awkward, and enquired after Vicky and Alice, asked if I had any news, saying: ‘Oh! si seulement l’on pouvait avoir la paix.’ Then she said how much had happened since we had met at Paris and she could not forget the dreadful impressions of her departure from there. She had remained as long as she could, but once General Trochu had allowed the Chambers to be taken possession of by the populace, there was nothing to be done but to go away. The garden had been already full of people who were entering the Tuileries, and there had been no troops to resist them. The night before she had lain down fully dressed on her bed. The crossing had been fearful. Afterwards she talked of other things. The Prince Imperial is a nice boy, but rather short and stumpy. His eyes are rather like those of his mother, but otherwise I think him more like the Emperor. Beatrice brought the Empress a nosegay from Louise. We stayed about half an hour and then left. The Empress again most kindly came to the door. It was a sad visit and seemed like a strange dream.’1 KeywordsForeign MinisterPeace TreatyImperial CoupleRepublican GovernmentPeace SettlementThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.