Désirée Clary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Désirée Clary | |
| Queen of Sweden and Norway | |
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| Titles | HM Queen Desideria of Sweden & Norway (1844[citation needed]-1860) HM The Queen of Sweden (1818-1844)[citation needed] |
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| Born | November 8, 1777 |
| Birthplace | Marseille, France |
| Died | December 17, 1860 (aged 83) |
| Place of death | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Consort | February 5, 1818 – March 8, 1844 |
| Consort to | Charles XIV |
| Issue | Oscar I |
| Father | François Clary |
| Mother | Françoise Rose Somis |
Desideria, Queen of Sweden and Norway (Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Bernadotte, née Clary) (November 8, 1777 – December 17, 1860) was the wife of King Charles XIV of Sweden and almost fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte.
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[edit] Early life and family
Désirée Clary was born in Marseille, France, the daughter of François Clary (Marseille, St. Ferreol, February 24, 1725 – Marseille, January 20, 1794), a wealthy silk manufacturer and merchant, and his second wife (married on June 26, 1759) Françoise Rose Somis (Marseille, St. Ferreol, August 30, 1737 – Paris, January 28, 1815). He had been previously married at Marseille, April 13, 1751 to Gabrielle Fléchon (1732 – May 3, 1758), without issue. Her sister, Julie Clary, married Joseph Bonaparte, and later became Queen of Naples and Spain. Her brother Nicholas Joseph Clary was created 1st Comte Clary and married Anne Jeanne Rouyer, by whom he had Zénaïde Françoise Clary (Paris, November 25, 1812 – Paris, April 27, 1884), wife of Napoléon Berthier de Wagram, 2nd Duc de Wagram (September 10, 1810 – February 10, 1887), son of Marshal Berthier, and had issue.
Her paternal grandparents were Joseph Clary (Marseille, November 22, 1693 – Marseille, August 30, 1748, son of Jacques Clary - son of Antoine Clary and wife Marguerite Canolle - and wife Catherine Barosse - daughter of Angelin Barosse and wife Jeanne Pélissière), and wife (married at Marseille, February 27, 1724) Françoise-Agnès Amaurric (Marseille, March 6, 1705 – Marseille, December 21, 1776, daughter of François Ammoric and wife Jeanne Boisson).
Her maternal grandparents were Joseph Ignace Somis (c. 1710 – Marseille, April 29, 1750, son of Jean Louis Somis and wife Françoise Bouchard), and wife (married at Marseille, May 27, 1736) Catherine Rose Soucheiron (Marseille, January 11, 1696 – Marseille, February 18, 1776, daughter of François Soucheiron and wife Anne Cautier).
Napoleon Bonaparte had sort of a romance with her, but after proposing the marriage to the Clary widow, she refused because his lack of fortune, and also because her other daughter was already married with Napoleon’s brother, Joseph[1]. Desiree followed her sister and her brother-in-law to their different residences abroad and in France; in 1796-1797 she stayed in Italy.
[edit] Madame Bernadotte
After her return to France, she met future husband, and on 16 August 1798, Sceaux, Désirée Clary married the French general Marshal Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte. Her husband was appointed governor of Hanover in 1804-1805, Prince of Pontecorvo 1806 and was one the leading generals in the French Napoleonic army; he was made heir to the Swedish throne in 1810 and, after success in war, to the Norwegian throne in 1814.
They had only one child, Oscar, who eventually became King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (1799-1859).
[edit] Queen of Sweden
Desirée visited Sweden for the first time in 1810 but could not accustom herself to the demands of formal court etiquette. She was said to have been treated with a certain snobbery by the court and especially the queen, Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, though the old dowager queen Sophia Magdalena of Denmark was kind to her. The climate was also a shock. It must be added, however, that according to descriptions, she seems to have behaved in a very "spoiled" manner and made no attempt to be liked, as she had never wished to be a queen and did not want to move so far away from her family. She left Sweden in 1811 under the name of "Countess of Gotland", officially because of her health, and returned to Paris. There she stayed for twelve years, leaving not only her husband but also her son behind. She herself said that the Swedish nobility had treated her as if they were made of ice: "Do not talk with me of Sweden, I get a cold as soon as I hear the word."[citation needed] In 1818, her husband became king, but she remained in Paris. In Sweden, her husband took a mistress, the noblewoman Mariana Koskull.
In 1823, Desiree returned to Sweden together with her son's bride, Josephine of Leuchtenberg, and in 1829, she was crowned queen at her own request. The 1830s were a period when she did her best to be active as a queen, a role she had never wanted to play. The decade is described as a time of balls and parties, more than had been seen at the Swedish court since the days of King Gustav III of Sweden, but Desiree soon grew tired of her royal status and wanted to return to France; her husband wouldn't allow it. She never became very popular and never learned to speak Swedish. After she was widowed, she grew more and more eccentric; she went to bed in the morning, she got up in the evening, she ate breakfast at night, and she drove around in a carriage through the streets, in the courtyard, or wandered around the corridors of the sleeping castle with a light. On the last day of her life, she entered her box at the opera just as the performance had ended.
She died in Stockholm.
[edit] Notes
- Désirée Clary is the subject of a hugely popular novel (a mock autobiography) by Annemarie Selinko, Désirée, 1951.
and of two films:
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- Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary (1942) a French film made by Sacha Guitry
- Désirée (1954), an American film with Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando
[edit] References
- Désirée Clary d'après sa correspondence inédite avec Bonaparte, Bernadotte et sa famille, Gabriel Girod de l'Ain, Paris: Hachette (1959).
- Herman Lindvist, "Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar" ("The Historys of the queens of Sweden"), (In Swedish)
[edit] External links
- Désirée Clary
- The story of Desiree (ger.)
- Désirée at the Internet Movie Database
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Désirée Clary
Born: 1777 Died: 1860 |
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| Swedish royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp (Queen consort) |
Royal Consort of Sweden (Queen consort) 1818 - 1844 |
Succeeded by Josephine of Leuchtenberg (Queen consort) |
| Preceded by Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp 1814-1818 |
Queen Consort of Norway 1818 - 1844 |
Succeeded by Josephine of Leuchtenberg 1844-1859 |
