The couple exchanged words of gratitude and enduring love, with Napoleon declaring, “I would like her … never to doubt my feelings for her she will always be my best and my dearest friend.” Joséphine wore a plain white gown evocative of a wedding dress. Held in the throne room at the Tuileries Palace in Paris, the ceremony had all the elements of a Greek tragedy. The Divorce of the Empress Josephine, Henri Frédéric Schopin, 1846 She valiantly held court despite her deep, private anguish, knowing her removal from the throne was imminent and her oft-mercurial relationship with France’s leader was at an end. The night before the “ imperial divorce” ceremony-a public event announcing the news and dissolving the marriage-in mid-December, Joséphine donned a brave face, showing “perfect composure, … grace and tact,” as one onlooker recalled. By ending his marriage to Joséphine, Napoleon freed himself to find a new wife who could bear his heirs. ![]() ![]() Despite years of trying in vain, the pair had yet to have a child. ![]() Under intense political pressure to plan for the future of the French throne, Napoleon held Joséphine responsible for the couple’s infertility. When French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte decided to divorce his wife Joséphine in 1809, he initiated a public spectacle that devasted his consort of 13 years.
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