Princess Augusta of Bavaria


Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg was the second child and eldest daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. By marriage, she was a French Princess.

Early life

Augusta-Amelie of Bavaria was the eldest daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. She lost her mother in 1795 from lung problems and her father remarried two years later with the young Caroline of Baden, who imposed on her husband's court a seriousness that some thought was beneficial. At first, Augusta did not like her stepmother like her younger siblings Karl Theodore and Charlotte did, as she was still attached to her late mother, but Caroline and Augusta’s relationship improved over time.
In 1795, at the death of his elder brother, her father Maximilian became reigning duke of Zweibrücken but his States were occupied by the troops of the young First French Republic. In 1799, at the death of his distant cousin Charles Theodore, Maximilian became count-elector Palatine of the Rhine and Duke-Elector of Bavaria under the name of Maximilian III.

Marriage and issue

Although originally promised in marriage to the heir of Baden, Charles, the engagement was broken at the behest of Napoleon I of France. On 14 January 1806 in Munich, Augusta married Eugène de Beauharnais, only son of Josephine de Beauharnais and Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais and stepson of Napoleon. In return, Napoleon raised Bavaria from a state to a Kingdom. Although a diplomatic marriage, this union would turn out to be a happy one. In 1817, Augusta's father created his son-in-law Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstädt, with the style Royal Highness.
Augusta and Eugène had seven children:
Augusta survived her husband by 20 years before dying in 1851 at the age of 63 in Munich. At that time, France’s president was the nephew of the Duchess of Leuchtenberg, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, the son of Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland, the sister of Prince Eugène.

Gallery

Honours