The Legendary Princess Mathilde Bonaparte and the Case of the Stolen Jewels

Portraits of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte by Winterhalter (left) and Count Anatole Demidov by Brulov

From the mid-19th century and towards the 20th century, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte ruled French high society. In fact, so formidable was she that when the princes of the former ruling dynasties were expelled from France, she was the only member of the Bonaparte family to stay. Like her cousin, Princess George of Greece and Denmark, Mathilde held an eccentric personality, making her a favorite by the French literary circles.

Birth and Early Years

Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte was born in exile on May 27, 1820 in Trieste, Italy. She was the daughter of Napoléon Bonaparte’s brother, Jérôme Bonaparte, and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg. Mathilde spent the first three years of her childhood in Trieste before her family relocated Rome, where his father bought a house despite being heavily indebted.

She was not close to her mother. Later in life, she would recall, “I never had very much love from my mother because I was a girl. She was rather quick with her hand.” Mathilde saw her “as a torturer who was jealous of her”. Mathilde was neither fond of her paternal grandmother, whom she and her younger brother would usually visit every Sunday after mass. “Mme Laetitia used to greet us politely, but without affection,” she confessed in her memoirs. She, however, developed a close relationship with her nanny, Madame de Reding. “I love her more than my mother… Her memory is a religion to me,” she wrote. Reding’s death in 1851 left Mathilde massively devastated, saying, “The loss I have suffered is all the more cruel because it is irreparable.”  Educated by her English and French governesses, Mathilde developed a liking in History. In 1833, Mathilde became friends with her cousin, Sophie of Württemberg, and close bond that would remain so until the latter’s death. “Dear Mathilde, in finding you I have found a friend for life. I know that, even when we’re apart, nothing will break the bond between our hearts,” Sophie wrote.

Dowry, Engagement and Marriage


Mathilde was set to marry her first cousin, Napoleon III of France, however the engagement had to be called off after the latter was imprisoned in Ham after a failed attempt to seize power in France. In 1839, Mathilde meet the Russian nobleman Count Anatole Demidov, whose fascination for the Napoleonic cult was well-known in St. Petersburg. Demidov was enchanted by the 18-year-old Mathilde, who was described as “without ambition, charming, inoffensive, beautiful, and gracious for her eighteen years, she received them like a young parisienne.” Little, however, did Anatole know that Mathilde was an “emancipated” and independent young lady, whose 'best' traits were revealed after she married Anatole.

Anatole’s friend, writer and historian, Jules Janin persuaded Anatole to consider marriage with Mathilde seriously. A marriage with the Bonaparte would certainly advance the status of the Demidovs. Meanwhile, Mathilde found marriage her chance to escape her boring life, while Jérôme saw this as an opportunity to cash on his daughter.  The former King of Wesphalia, by this time, was already penniless, thanks to his spendthrift lifestype. It became apparent that he would not be able to settle the dowry on Mathilde, set at 290,000 French Francs of which FF 50,000 was composed of her personal jewellery, wardrobe, and musical instruments. The balance of FF 240,000 was payable in cash. Anatole agreed to provide Jérôme and family members an annual pension of FF 118,000; 24,000 was to go to the father, FF 6,000 to his son, FF 1,200 for Madame de Redding, Mathilde’s good friend and minder, and FF 85,000 for Mathilde.  Jerome’s deceit seeped into the foundation of the marriage and acted like poison to contribute towards its dissolution in six short years. The couple were married on November 1, 1840 in Rome. A few weeks before their wedding, Anatole was created Prince of San Donato by the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

 Mathilde’s cousin, Czar Nicholas I of Russia, strongly opposed the match. Charmed by his cousin, Mathilde was well-received in the court at St. Petersburg when the couple visited Russia in early 1941. However, the czar, who took his enmity on Anatole after he decided to live abroad, took every chance to publicly humiliate him. Even his princely Italian title was not recognized in Russia. These immediately strained  the marriage and Anatole turned out to be a selfish and violent man who refused to part ways with his mistress, Valentine de St Aldegonde. The couple often fought violently, at times in public. Once, she even caught Anatole “making love to another man” and when Mathilde stooped to insulting Anatole's mistress in public at a fancy-dress ball. Anatole, in his turn, slapped his wife across her face right before French high society.

Separation and the Case of the Stolen Jewels

Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, c1860s. Image from Wikimedia Commons

When Mathilde has had enough, she found an escape from her troubled marriage in painting, which got her introduced to art student and her future lover, Ernest Hébert. The relationship, however, did not last long. In  September 1846, determined to separate from Anatole, she fled from his hotel with her lover, the Comte de Nieuwerkerke, taking back her family jewelry, which her father had sold to Anatole, and corresponding moral compensation from Anatole's family jewelry.  In October, Tsar Nicholas I officially terminated the marriage. Anatole was banned from entering Paris, which gave Mathilde the freedom to welcome her new lover into her Paris mansion. Also, Mathilde was allowed to keep her jewels and was granted an annual alimony of 200,000 French francs.

Mathilde had better use of her husband’s diamonds.  In November 1848, the diamonds were placed as collateral for a bank loan of FF 500,000, which was used to finance her cousin, Louis-Napoleon’s bid as President of France. With the Bonapartes return to power, Mathilde was elevated to become the second most important lady of the Second Empire under Napoleon III.

Patron of Arts and Letters 

Inside Princess Mathilde's salon, c1860s. From Wikimedia Commons

Inside Princess Mathilde's salon, c1860s. From Wikimedia Commons

Inside Princess Mathilde's salon, c1860s. From Wikimedia Commons

In the 1860s, Mathilde hosted numerous successful salons for men of arts and letters at her Paris mansion.  "This salon is the true salon of the nineteenth century, with a mistress of the house who is the perfect model of the modern woman", wrote the brothers Goncourt, her frequent guests. The château she purchased on the shores of Lake Enghien served as another venue for her literary and artistic circle.

The fall of the Second French Empire forced her to flee France and take refuge in Belgium; her hôtel was sequestered. She, nevertheless, returned to France in 1871, establishing her salon at rue de Berry, where she resumed her pre-war receptions with the same eclecticism as in the past. Now frequenting her table were, among others, Paul Bourget, Anatole France, Maurice Barrès, Proust, and the actress Réjane. Her salon flourished to the end, and long before her death at the age of eighty-three, she had more than earned the sincere nickname "Notre-Dame des Arts."

Shortly after breaking up with Nieuwerkerke, who was unfaithful to her, Mathilde met and fell in love with a 44-year-old poet named Claudius Popelin. She married him not long after. Her last husband’s death in May of 1892 left her broken that she said, “I’ll end by blowing my brains out!” In 1903, her foot got caught in her skirt, fracturing her femur. Her condition would worsen each passing day. Mathilde died on January 2, 1904 in Paris, France. She was 83 years old.