She was Napoleon’s first fiancée. She had been engaged to Napoleon’s brother Joseph before she became engaged to Napoleon. Napoleon fell sincerely madly in love with an older woman named Marie Josèphe Rose (Josephine) who was a courtesan to a ruler of France named Paul Barras. I do not know how Napoleon broke off his engagement to Desirée but she ended up becoming his sister-in-law.
This image below gives you a decent idea of the appearance of Josephine. Though Napoleon was madly in love with Josephine (initially), she married him for security and said so in a letter to a friend. Josephine also flagrantly cheated on Napoleon since day one.
It is my personal belief - and I intend to show you all why I believe this - that the woman Napoleon was really most attached to was Josephine’s daughter, Hortense.
This was Hortense. Time will tell if I am capable of proving my theory. I have been developing and working to substantiate this theory since the mid 90s.
