Austrian archduchess (1791-1847) who was Napoleon Bonaparte's second wife and, as such, Empress of the French from 1810 to 1814; she then reigned as Duchess of Parma from 1814 until her death. ALS in French, signed “Louise,” one page both sides, 4.5 x 7.25, September 1, 1826. Handwritten letter to her five-year-old son Guillaume, the future Comte de Montenuovo, who was born of her liaison with Comte Adam de Neipperg, in part (translated): “I have learned with great pleasure from Mlle. Marianne and Mr. Zoche that you have had two teeth pulled out with the courage of a little hero which proves to me my dear child that you have become much more sensible in the last year and gives me much consolation—my real reason for writing to you is that I received by the last post a scrap of paper which must have slid by mistake among the pages, not having been able to decipher it I suppose it was a piece you were amusing yourself by scribbling on during your playtime, not yet being able to write a letter without the aid of Mr. Zoche or Marinelli…I am very well and spend half my days outdoors which is rather tiring because of the awful heat—I certainly hope to see you at the beginning of October…I embrace and love you with all my heart.” In fine condition, with a thin old mounting strip along the left edge.
There seems little doubt that the charming and able half-French, half-Austrian general Count Adam de Neipperg was the real love of Marie Louise’s life. Their liaison started shortly after Napoleon’s first abdication in 1814 and was the real reason for her refusal to join him on Elba. Their first child Guillaume was born in August 1821, three months after Napoleon’s death. The fact that he was obviously conceived in Napoleon’s lifetime meant that a certain discretion was maintained about his birth, although it was not actually kept secret. Marie Louise and Neipperg were apparently privately married in 1822, although the marriage was never announced.
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