Désirée Clary

Tonight I was listening to a song named “Désirée” by “Gilbert Bécaud”; that suddenly reminded me of an old memory.

When I was very young my mum used to read a book for several times; its title was “Désirée”. Once I took the book and read the first page starting with “I think men like the women who has big tits…” It made me more curious to know what the book was about (I was a naughty child I know!). Anyway, mum told me that it was about “Désirée Clary” who was presented to “Napoleon Bonaparte” and engaged to him, but later Napoleon broke off his engagement to her and married “Joséphine de Beauharnais”. Afterwards, Désirée married French general “Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte” and her husband was elected heir to the throne of Sweden.

Désirée visited Sweden but couldn’t get along with the court and the Queen; she was treated with snobbery. She left Sweden, officially because of her health problems, and returned to Paris where she stayed for twelve years apart from her husband and her son. Later her husband became king of Sweden and she returned to Sweden with her son’s bride, Josephine of Leuchtenberg who was the granddaughter of famous Joséphine (Désirée’s love rival); in fact Désirée herself insisted to marry her son to Joséphine’s granddaughter who had the same name and even the same looks as her grandmother. After a while she was crowned Queen at her own request.

After the battle of Waterloo, representatives of the allied armies ask Désirée to speak with Napoleon hoping that she could persuade him to surrender and she gently tells him that he must do as France asks and go into exile on St. Helena. Commenting on how strange it is that the two most outstanding men of their time had fallen in love with her, Napoleon gives Désirée his sword in surrender.

Later I saw my mum writing on the book cover: “I love you Désirée because you could always live on your conditions with your loved ones”. Now that I pay attention more I think “Désirée” is a very pretty name too; désirée is someone who is desired!