Hortense de Beauharnais

The royal couple had three sons, one of whom became Emperor Napoleon III. But theirs was an unhappy marriage. Queen Hortense attended many festivities and official events. She also became increasingly popular with the people , partly because of her visits to local members of the middle class. Her husband, who was unhappy with her popularity, put a stop to it by forcing her into the sidelines. After Napoleon was defeated she settled, without her husband, in Switzerland. There, on her grand Arenenberg estate, Hortense de Beauharnais, herself a talented musician and composer, held cultural gatherings that would be talked about for years afterwards .