Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, died on 17 December 1847. She was the eldest daughter of Francis I, Emperor of Austria, and thus the sister of Emperor Ferdinand, Leopoldine, Empress of Brazil, and the aunt of Emperor Francis Joseph. In history books, Marie Louise is best known as Empress of the French through her marriage to Napoleon Bonaparte. Their only son, Napoleon II, King of Rome, was born in 1811.
After Napoleon’s fall and exile, Marie Louise briefly stayed in Vienna before she was granted the Duchy of Parma as her lifetime appanage. While in Vienna, she grew close to Count Neipperg, a diplomat appointed to her service, who later continued in that role as Grand Chamberlain of Parma. The two could not marry until 1821, after Napoleon’s death on Saint Helena. By then, Marie Louise had already borne two illegitimate sons from this relationship; a daughter followed but did not survive. Widowed again after a seven-year marriage, Marie Louise later entered another morganatic union, this time with Captain de Bombelles, a French émigré in the service of the Austrian army, without high noble rank.
Marie Louise was described as a shy and unambitious woman who preferred a quiet, domestic life. All three of her marriages, although vastly different in political significance and social standing, seem to have been personally harmonious. The third lasted until her death, which occurred only a few days after her fifty-sixth birthday. She rests in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.
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3 Responses
It’s interesting to learn about Marie Louise’s family connections, especially being aunt to Francis Joseph.
I always forget how much agency Marie Louise actually had after Napoleon; the second marriage to Neipperg is rarely covered in popular histories. The ‘Imperial housewife’ framing feels a bit reductive, since she ruled Parma in her own right.
Thank you for your comment. I cannot entirely agree, though, because at the time of Napoleon’s defeat, the Habsburgs had no legal claim to Parma. The Duchy was granted to Maria Luisa by the Congress of Vienna to provide her with a territory and income befitting her rank.
As Duchess, Maria Luisa did not involve herself extensively in the day-to-day business of government, leaving much of the administrative work to Neipperg and, in matters concerning the wider European political order, to Metternich.
Are you familiar with the Facebook group, The Private Lives of the Habsburgs? You would be very welcome to join the discussion and contribute your views!