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Her Majesty Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway (Bernhardine Eugenie Désirée Bernadotte, née Clary, November 8, 1777 - December 17, 1860) was the wife of King Charles XIV of Sweden and a one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte.
She was born in Marseille, the daughter of François Clary (1725-1794), a wealthy soap manufacturer and merchant, and his wife Françoise Rose Somis (1737-1815). Her sister, Julie Clary, married Joseph Bonaparte, and later became Queen of Naples and Spain.
Though engaged for two years (1794-96) to Napoleon Bonaparte, the engagement was broken off by the future emperor, in the face of her parents' opposition and their concern over his lack of fortune. On 17 August 1798, at Sceaux, Désirée Clary married Marshal Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, a French general who was made heir to the Swedish throne in 1810 and, after successful warfare led by himself, to the Norwegian in 1814. The couple became King and Queen in 1818, with Désirée's first name being translated as Desideria.
They had only one child, Oscar, who eventually became King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway(1799-1844).
Queen Desideria never became very accustomed to the Swedish ways or to the climate. For long periods, especially before 1823, she was living in Paris apart from her family.
She died at Stockholm.
References
- Désirée Clary d'après sa correspondance inédite avec Bonaparte, Bernadotte et sa famille, Gabriel Girod de l'Ain, Paris: Hachette (1959).
Link
- Désirée Clary (http://www.nebula5.org/clary/desiree.html)
- The story of Desiree (http://home.snafu.de/veith/Texte/Napoleon.htm) (ger.)
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