--Previous Message-- : : Bernadotte was not made count but prince de : Ponte-Corvo by Napoleon in 1806 : : --Previous Message-- : Thank you Barbara D. for your informative : post, which is much appreciated. : : : : : --Previous Message-- : Queen Désirée (actually in Swedish : "Desideria") was born Bernardine : Eugénie Désirée Clary in 1777 in Marseille, : Southern France. Her father was in the trade : with the Osman Empire (Constantinopel) and : earned some wealth with his business. The : Clarys were not of noble descendance, : actually the provenance of the family is not : well known. : : When she was 18, Eugénie (she later started : to be called Désirée) met the from Corsica : emigrated family "Buonaparte" : (later Bonaparte). She introduced Joseph : Bonaparte to her elder sister Julie who felt : in love with Joseph and later married him. : Eugénie/Désirée herself was from 1795 to : 1796 engaged to the young and unknown : General Napoleone Buonaparte who was later : known as Napoléon Bonaparte and became : Emperor of The French! : : The two never married because the Clarys : opposed against a second Bonaparte in the : family and Napoléon himself met the rich and : influent widow Joséphine de Beauharnais de : Tascher de la Pagerie and married her in : 1796. : : Désirée herself married in 1798 Jean : Baptiste Bernadotte, a General in the French : army. Jean Baptiste later became Marshal : under Napoléon and was made Count of Ponte : Corvo. In 1810, he was adopted by the : childless Swedish King and Queen under the : name Carl Johan. This was also the name he : was later known as King of Sweden and : Norway. : : Désirée herself became Swedish and Norwegian : Queen under the name "Désideria". : Whilst her husband and her son Oscar lived : in Sweden from 1810 on, Désirée stayed in : France up to 1823, mainly under the : pseudonym of Countess of Gotland. The : reasons are not absolutely clear. There : might be her health, she didn't coped with : the nordic climate in Sweden or it might be, : that she didn't felt comfortable in the : stiff protocol of the Swedish court. : : Désirée finally went to Sweden with her : son's fiancée, Josephine of Leuchtenberg : (who was Joséphine de Beauharnais' : granddaughter!). She remained in Sweden up : to her death in 1860. : : That woman had a very interesting life and : she was involved with two of the most : influent men of their time! : : : : :