February 15, 1910
King Albert of the Belgians "has offered no objection" to the marriage of his cousin, Princess Clementine, to Prince Victor Napoleon. His consent is actually not necessary, according to the Marquise de Fonentoy's latest column due to a revision of the Belgian constitution in 1893. One of the new clauses stated that a prince of the royal house needed the consent of the King and his government when he married; otherwise, he would forfeit his succession rights.
Princess Clementine is not required to seek formal permission to wed because the law applies solely to the royal princes, as Belgian princesses do not have succession rights.
It was the late King Leopold II's personal decision when he did not allow his youngest daughter to marry Prince Victor Napoleon. But now Clementine can "follow the dictates of her heart."
Prince Victor Napoleon's legal status will change when he marries Princess Clementine. He is a foreigner, and he can be "expelled from the country by order of the minister of the interior" at the request of the French government. He has remained inactive as a pretender to the French throne in order to avoid creating political tension between France and Belgium.
The Belgian government will not be able to expel the prince after his marriage to a Belgian woman, and remains a resident of the kingdom "for more than five years and makes his home there."
The wedding will take place in Brussels at the home of the Countess of Flanders, who is very fond of her niece, and who "was more of a mother to her" than the late Queen Marie Henriette.
Victor Napoleon will be attended by his brother, Prince Louis, and his first cousin, the Duke of the Abruzzi, who will also represent King Victor Emanuel. Victor and Louis' mother, the "saintly Princess Clotilde Bonaparte," is the sister of the late King Umberto and the late duke of Aosta.
There is "no doubt" that the prince's marriage "will go far to restore his prestige as a pretender and to strengthen the Bonapartist cause in France." He will also be endowed with great wealth, as Princess Clementine "inherited a large share of her father's great fortune."
Prince Victor life has been "entirely beyond reproach," and Princess Clementine's life has been "unscathed" despite the "cruel trials" that will finally culminate in a marriage.
Hi Marlene,
ReplyDeleteA few reports from that time, and then again at Victor's death, claimed that he was either morganatically or religiously married once prior to his union with Clementine.
For example, one article stated that Prince Victor contracted a morganatic marriage in 1899 in Switzerland, and that with this spouse he had three children.
Also, on Nobiliana someone posted that the lady's name was Alice Biot, who performed at the Opera in Paris, and that she was created comtesse de Beauclair by Victor Napoleon's cousin, the King of Italy. The poster further said that the couple had two sons, Pierre and Eugene.
Do you know if any of that was true? I wonder if the biography of the Prince written by his descendant Laetitia de Witt discusses this...
By the way, love the blog!
See the folllowing:
ReplyDeletehttp://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/08/prince-victor-napoleons-morganatic.html
Have not seen a bio in English on Victor.