Pope orders Clothilde to return to her husband

October 22, 1879

The Pope has ordered Princess Clothilde to return to her marital home, and the Princess, according to the Chicago Daily Tribune, "has submitted to the Church, and is reconciled with her husband," Prince Napoleon. The couple had lived apart for seven years, as the princess' "grievances were too public to put up with them," and she had retired to a home in Piedmont, which was provided by King Victor Emmanuel. Princess Clothilde lived near her brother, the Duke of Aosta, and was able to be "a second mother to his orphan children."

After many months of negotiations, Princess Clothilde was finally persuaded to return to France and her "unworthy spouse." The Princess did appeal in the name of her children, but she was "assured of the sincerity of Prince Napoleon's repentance." The prince "is now of an age when men prefer the calm of domestic life to the excitement of gallant adventures."

Princess Clothilde and Prince Napoleon were married in Turin on June 13, 1859. They have three children, Prince Napoleon Victor, Prince Louis, and Princess Laetitia.