Pauline Bonaparte - Princess Borghese

Princess Borghese

Pauline reached the Bay of Toulon on 1 January 1803. The same day she expressed her despair, in the form of a dossier, to Napoleon, "I have brought with me the remains of my poor Leclerc. Pity poor Pauline, who is truly unhappy."

On February 11, she arrived in the capital, where Napoleon made arrangements for her to lodge with their brother Joseph. Firstly, the widow had to deal with Leclerc's perilous estate. Parisian rumour had it that she extracted gold and jewels from the indigenous peoples in Saint-Domingue and brought the treasure back in Leclerc's sarcophagus, but this was not the case. She inherited 700,000 francs in both liquid capital and assets from Leclerc. By no means was this considered a sizeable sum.

Tiring of life with Joseph, Pauline went about acquiring Hôtel Charost from the eponymous duchess. She confided in Laure de Permont—Pauline and Laure had met at the latter's mother's salon in Paris—that she "was bored" with the code of mourning outlined in the First Consul's civil code, compelling her to withdraw from the yoke of Parisian society, which, before her jaunt to Saint-Domingue, had had her at its centre. Napoleon did not wish her to remain without a husband for an extended period of time, he tried—but failed—to recruit the incumbent Duke of Lodi and Vice-President of the Napoleonic Republic of Italy, Francesco Melzi d'Eril, for this purpose. It took Pope Pius VII's envoy, Giovanni Battista Caprara, to highlight her eventual husband, Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, a Roman noble. The First Consul believed the union would consolidate ties with French-occupied Italy, where animosity toward the aggressor was rife. That, combined with her brothers Joseph and Lucien's concurring sentiments, implored her to marry him. The marriage contract brought Camillo a dowry of 500,000 francs; and Pauline, 300,000 francs worth of jewelry and the use of the Borghese family diamonds. On 28 August 1803, they were married by Capara—without the knowledge of Napoleon, who willed a November wedding for mourning protocol's sake. Upon discovering Pauline's deceit, he rebuked her with, "Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess where I am." Another ceremony, this time civil, in November confirmed that of August. The marriage, however, did nothing to dampen Pauline's sexual adventures, including an affair with the violinist Niccolò Paganini.

Camillo, Pauline, and Dermide arrived in Rome on 14 November. Pauline, anxious to learn how to behave in Roman society, received tutorship in deportment and dancing. Biographer William Carlton expounds that Pauline—a commoner from Corsica—would never have made such an advantageous match if it weren't for Napoleon's political eminence. Pauline's initial amity towards Camillo soon morphed into dislike.