Summary

• Napoleon's divorce from Empress Joséphine was driven by their inability to produce a legitimate heir, leading him to marry Marie-Louise and have a son, Napoleon II.
• Joséphine had two children from her previous marriage, Eugène and Hortense, who played significant roles in Napoleon's life and later history.
• Although the exact number is unknown, Napoleon had numerous illegitimate children with his mistresses, including Charles Léon Denuelle and Alexandre Colonna Walewski.

One of the primary points of conflict between Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress Joséphine was their inability to produce a legitimate heir, and while Napoleon did show his legitimate son and stepchildren, it left out details about Napoleon's other children. Napoleon's tumultuous and crucial relationship with Joséphine de Beauharnais (later titled Empress Joséphine following her marriage to Napoleon) is at the heart of Ridley Scott's movie. While Napoleon makes changes to the true story, it is accurate in that things came to a head when the two agreed to divorce so that the emperor might remarry and have a legitimate heir.

Although Napoleon has received mixed reviews, it succeeds in detailing how Napoleon's reign as emperor of France, and eventually much of Europe, was ill-fated and relatively short-lived. However, during that time, producing an heir to carry on his rule was of the utmost importance to him, as detailed in Napoleon. There is still some uncertainty surrounding how many children Napoleon Bonaparte had, but there is evidence of legitimate and illegitimate children through different wives and mistresses.

Napoleon is available to stream on AppleTV+

Napoleon Bonaparte Had One Son, Napoleon II, With Marie-Louise

Napoleon Only Had One Legitimate Heir

Only one of Napoleon Bonaparte's children was considered his legitimate heir. Napoleon and Empress Joséphine were unable to produce any children through nearly 14 years of marriage, which was the impetus for their divorce in 1810. Napoleon swiftly sought a suitable new wife of royalty, and just two months after he and Josephine were divorced he married the 20-year-old Marie-Louise, an archduchess of Austria. Marie-Louise was able to quickly produce a son, and Napoleon II was born just a year after their marriage, in March 1811.

Constitutionally speaking, Napoleon II was the Prince Imperial and heir to Napoleon's throne upon his birth, and Napoleon also gave him the title "King of Rome". He bore those titles for only three years, as the First French Empire under Napoleon fell, and he was exiled soon thereafter. Napoleon II would live out the rest of his days in Austria with his mother's family, and died of tuberculosis at the age of 21.

Napoleon Had Two Stepchildren Through Marrying Joséphine

Napoleon Adopted Joséphine's Son, And Her Daughter Is Napoleon III's Mother

While Napoleon's children only included one legitimate heir, he did become father so two stepchildren. Prior to her relationship with Napoleon, Joséphine was married to Alexandre de Beauharnais, a French politician and French Revolution general who met his end at the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. Through that marriage she produced two children, Eugène de Beauharnais and Hortense de Beauharnais. Both are shown in Napoleon as young children when Napoleon is first courting their mother.

Hortense actually grew up to marry Napoleon's younger brother, Louis Bonaparte, who was at the time the King of Holland.

In reality, Eugène would go on to serve as a military commander in the Napoleonic Wars, and even became the adopted son of Napoleon during his time as emperor. Despite this, he was never granted status as a legitimate heir to the empire. Hortense actually grew up to marry Napoleon's younger brother, Louis Bonaparte, who was at the time the King of Holland. Their son together was Napoleon III, who was both the last monarch and the first elected president of France.

Napoleon Bonaparte Had Many Illegitimate Children

Only Two Of Napoleon's Other Children Are Known Of

Napoleon II may have been his legitimate heir, but the total number of Napoleon's children is thought to be much higher, with at least two children produced out of wedlock have been documented by historians. The actual number of mistresses that Napoleon had has been debated throughout history. Per historical research and writer Shannon Selin, Napoleon claimed to have seven mistresses, but it is believed he had more than 20 mistresses at different times in his life, and with those mistresses, produced an unknown number of illegitimate children.

While Napoleon focused mostly on the emperor's quest for a legitimate heir, in reality he had many more children.

While it may not have been accurate, Napoleon showed the ruler testing out his own fertility on a young girl, producing an illegitimate child. As detailed on ShannonSelin.com, details are known about two of Napoleon's illegitimate children though. The two known children are Charles Léon Denuelle and Alexandre Colonna Walewski.

Denuelle was the product of Napoleon's affair with a young girl that worked for his sister named Elénore de la Plaigne. While he was never granted any legitimacy, Napoleon did apparently care for the boy and took care of his needs while he was able to. Walewski was born out of Napoleon's affair with a Polish mistress, Countess Marie Walewski. Napoleon's other illegitimate son would actually go on to become a French diplomat when his cousin Napoleon III came to power. While Napoleon focused mostly on the emperor's quest for a legitimate heir, in reality he had many more children.