Désirée Clary

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Désirée Clary
Queen of Sweden and Norway

Titles	HM Queen Desideria of Sweden & Norway (1844-1860) HM The Queen of Sweden (1818-1844)
Born	November 8, 1777
	Marseille, France
Died	December 17, 1860
	Stockholm, Sweden
Consort	February 5, 1818 – March 8, 1844
Consort to	Charles XIV
Issue	Oscar I
Father	François Clary
Mother	Françoise Rose Somis

Desideria, Queen of Sweden and Norway (Bernhardine Eugenie Désirée Bernadotte, née Clary) (November 8, 1777 – December 17, 1860) was the wife of King Charles XIV of Sweden and a one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte.

She was born in Marseille, France, the daughter of François Clary (1725-1794), a wealthy silk manufacturer and merchant, and his wife Françoise Rose Somis (1737-1815). Her sister, Julie Clary, married Joseph Bonaparte, and later became Queen of Naples and Spain.

Though engaged for two years (1794-96) to Napoleon Bonaparte, the engagement was broken off by the future emperor, in the face of her parents' opposition and their concern over his lack of fortune. On 17 August 1798, at Sceaux, Désirée Clary married Marshal Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, a French general who was made heir to the Swedish throne in 1810 and, after successful warfare led by himself, to the Norwegian throne in 1814. The couple became King and Queen in 1818, with Désirée's first name being translated as Desideria.

They had only one child, Oscar, who eventually became King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (1799-1859).

Queen Desideria never became very accustomed to Swedish ways or to the climate. For long periods, especially before 1823, she lived in Paris apart from her family.

She died in Stockholm.

[edit] Notes

Désirée Clary is the subject of two films:
- Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary (1942) a French film made by Sacha Guitry
- Désirée (1954), an American film with Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando