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Louis, Prince Napoléon

Louis, Prince Napoléon (23 January 1914 – 3 May 1997) was a member of the Bonaparte dynasty.

Biography[]

He was born in Brussels, Belgium, due to the law which then banned heirs of the former French ruling dynasties from residing in France. He was the pretender to the imperial throne of France, as Napoleon VI, from 1926 until his death. At the outbreak of World War II, Prince Louis wrote to the French Prime Minister, Édouard Daladier, offering to serve in the French army. His offer was refused, so he joined the French Foreign Legion, seeing action in North Africa before being demobilized in 1941. He then joined the French Resistance and was arrested by the Germans after attempting to cross the Pyrenees on his way to London to join Free French leader Charles de Gaulle. After his arrest, he spent time in various prisons, including Fresnes. After his release, he joined the French resistance group Resistance Organization in the army under the name Louis Monnier. Prince Louis himself narrowly escaped death a month later when, on August 28, he was severely wounded as part of a seven-man patrol that was attacked; he was the only survivor. After his recovery, he joined the Alpine Division and was later decorated for bravery. After the war, he lived in Switzerland and, irregularly, in Paris until 1950, when the law of banishment against the heads of the former ruling dynasties of France was repealed. Prince Louis became a successful businessman, with a number of financial interests in Africa. After Prince Louis' death in Prangins, Switzerland, he appointed his grandson, Prince Jean-Christophe Napoléon, as his successor.

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