Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon

Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, Prince of Montfort (birth name: Jean-Christophe Louis Ferdinand Albéric Napoléon Bonaparte; born 11 July 1986, France) is the disputed head of the Imperial House of France, and as such the heir of Napoleon Bonaparte, the first Emperor of the French. He would be known as Napoleon VIII.

Jean-Christophe
Prince Napoléon
Prince Jean-Christophe in 2006
Head of the House of Bonaparte
(disputed)
Tenure3 May 1997 – present
PredecessorLouis, Prince Napoléon
Heir ApparentPrince Louis Napoléon
Born (1986-07-11) 11 July 1986
Saint-Raphaël, Var, France
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2019)​
IssuePrince Louis Napoléon
Names
Jean-Christophe Louis Ferdinand Albéric Napoléon
HouseBonaparte
FatherPrince Charles Napoléon
MotherPrincess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
ReligionCatholicism

Family background

Prince Jean-Christophe was born in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France. He is the son of Prince Charles Napoléon and his first wife Princess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of the late Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon, Duke of Castro, a claimant to headship of the former Royal House of the Two Sicilies.[1] His parents divorced on 2 May 1989, two months before Jean-Christophe's 3rd birthday.

Jean-Christophe is the great-great-great-grandnephew of Emperor Napoleon I (who has no legitimate direct descendants) through the emperor's youngest brother, Jérôme, King of Westphalia. Through his mother, he is a descendant of King Louis XIV of France and through his great-grandmother, Princess Clémentine of Belgium, he descends from Leopold II of Belgium, William IV, Prince of Orange, Charles III of Spain, Frederick William I of Prussia, George II of Great Britain and Louis Philippe I, King of the French, who was the last king to rule France, while his great-great-grandfather was Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, the cousin of the Emperor Napoleon III, France's most recent monarch.

Prince Napoléon

Jean-Christophe's grandfather, Louis, Prince Napoléon, died in 1997 and stipulated in his will that he wished his 11-year-old grandson Jean-Christophe to succeed him as Head of the Imperial House of France rather than the boy's father, Charles, who had embraced republican principles and decided to remarry without his father's consent.[2] Despite the dynastic dispute, Jean-Christophe's father has stated that "there will never be conflict" between him and his son over the imperial succession.[3]

Education and career

Jean-Christophe studied at Lycée Saint Dominique in Neuilly-sur-Seine from 2001 to 2004, obtaining a baccalauréat with honours in the sciences and mathematics. From 2004 to 2006, he studied economics and mathematics at the Institut Privé de Préparation aux Études Supérieures (IPESUP) in Paris. Jean-Christophe matriculated at the HEC School of Management in Paris, graduating in 2011 with an MSc in management.

He completed an MBA at Harvard Business School in May 2017.[4] He worked from 2017 until 2022 as a private equity associate in the London office of the Blackstone Group.[5] In April 2022 he founded a private equity boutique Leon Capital LLP.[6]

He has lived and worked in New York City as an investment banking analyst for Morgan Stanley and in London as a private equity associate for Advent International. He is fluent in French, English and Spanish. He represents his dynasty's heritage at public events and ceremonies in France and elsewhere in Europe.[7]

Personal life

On 17 October 2019, he contracted a civil marriage with Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, a great-granddaughter of Charles I of Austria, and a member by birth of the ancient House of Arco at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. On 19 October 2019, the couple had a religious marriage officiated by Antoine de Romanet, the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of the French Armed Forces, at the Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides in Paris. The wedding ball took place at the Palace of Fontainebleau.[8][9]

Prince and Princess Napoléon have one son, Prince Louis Charles Riprand Victor Jérôme Marie Napoléon (b. 7 December 2022 in Paris), who is the current heir to the Bonaparte dynasty.[10]

Honours

Foreign

Awards

Ancestry

References
  1. de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 437, 442 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
  2. Herbert, Susannah (12 March 1997). "Father and son in battle for the Napoléonic succession". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 5 September 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
  3. F. Billaut (16 December 1997). "Guerre de succession chez les Napoléon". Point de Vue: 18–19.
  4. "Le prince Napoléon, un homme d'avenir". Point de Vue. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  5. "Jean-Christophe Napoleon Bonaparte". NOAH Conference. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  6. "Le prince Napoléon lance un first-time fund". Capital Finance. 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  7. O'Reilly, Edward (24 January 2019). "Did You Know? The Tale of the three Frenchmen who still lay claim to the throne". The Local. Stockholm. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  8. Royalty and social set gather for Jean-Christophe Napoleon Bonaparte's wedding Archived 22 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine at tatler.com. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  9. One of Napoleon's heirs just married an Austrian countess, who is descended from Napoleon's second wife. Check out the lavish reception in the medieval palace where the French emperor himself once lived. Archived 16 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine at businessinsider.com. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  10. de Natal, Frederic. "L'Empire à un Aiglon". Monarchies et Dynasties du Monde. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  11. "Members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 28 January 2013. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  12. "Grand Magistral Appointments to the Constantinian Order and Royal Order of Francis I - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 29 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  13. "City of London Banquet in Honour of HIH The Prince Napoleon - Wednesday 25 November 2015 - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
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