Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom | Autograph letter signed, to Lucien Bonaparte, 1817

Caroline Of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen Of The United Kingdom

Autograph letter signed, as Princess Regent ("CP"), to Lucien Bonaparte ("cher Prince de Canino")

with news of the difficult position of ill-health of former Empress Marie Louise, who is in ill-health and under constant surveillance, describing her husband Napoleon as "le grand héros de ce siècle" and lamenting that he is never mentioned by her and she has no portrait of him on view, in French, 3 pages, folio, Villa d'Este, 1817, edge-mounted on card, spotting

THE ESTRANGED WIFE OF THE BRITISH PRINCE REGENT WRITES TO NAPOLEON'S BROTHER. Caroline's marriage to the Prince of Wales was characterised by mutual loathing and infidelity, and she had been in exile from Britain since 1814. Her sympathy for the former Empress, now Duchess of Parma, is understandable but her open celebration of Napoleon is nonetheless striking when coming from a member of Britain's ruling family.

PROVENANCE:

Calvin Bullock; sale of his collection, Christie's, New York, 19 December 1986, lot 161