Maria Letizia Bonaparte gave birth to Napoleon on 15th August 1769 in Ajaccio. When he was crowned Emperor, she received the official name Madame Mère (Madam, the Mother of the Emperor).
Amongst his 4 brothers and 3 sisters, Pauline was his most beloved sister. She accompanied him in exile in Elba. Napoleon used her, with her consent, as an instrument of diplomatic conquest as he married her off in 1803 to Prince Camille Borghese.

Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, viscountess of Beauharnais, married Napoleon in March 1796. From then on she adopted the name of Joséphine, which Napoleon preferred. She was proclaimed Empress of the French on 18th May 1804 and subsequently crowned by Napoleon on 2nd December. Sophisticated, elegant, and a passionate lover of Art and botany, she made a lasting impression on her time. She made the Malmaison estate, her favourite residence, one of the most beautiful gardens in Europe. As she was not able to produce an heir to the throne she had to agree to divorce Napoleon in 1809.
Napoleon’s priority being to ensure his succession in 1810 he married Marie-Louise of Austria. On 20th March, she gave birth to François Charles Joseph Bonaparte, heir to the imperial throne.
Marie Walewska, his Polish mistress, occupied an important position. Finckenstein Palace was home to their growing love in 1807. She gave him a son in 1810, and remained faithful until his exile on Saint Helena.