Six Degrees of Separation, Butterfly Games Edition–Napoleon to Jacquette
Posted on September 24, 2025 in Behind the Scenes, Butterfly Games, Newsletter, Swedish Royals
What do Napoleon Bonaparte and a Swedish countess named Jacquette have in common?
More than you’d think! Here’s the whirlwind version:
|
|
|
[icon name=”arrow-circle-right” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 1
|
| As a young army officer, Napoleon proposed marriage to Désirée Clary, the daughter of a silk merchant from Marseilles. |
|
|
[icon name=”arrow-circle-right” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 2
|
| Napoleon dumped Désirée for Joséphine. |
|
|
[icon name=”arrow-circle-right” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 3
|
| Heartbroken, Désirée married one of Napoleon’s generals, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. |
|
|
[icon name=”arrow-circle-right” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 4
|
| Out of complete left field, Sweden elected Bernadotte crown prince, making Désirée royalty. |
|
|
[icon name=”arrow-circle-right” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 5
|
| Their son, Oscar, now a prince, left his home in Paris and moved to Sweden… |
|
|
[icon name=”arrow-circle-right” style=”solid” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] 6
|
| …and fell in love with a young countess named Jacquette,. |
|
|
|
| Voilà: six degrees of separation between the Emperor of the French and a young Swedish countess. |
|
|
That twist of fate lies at the heart of Butterfly Games, a novel about Oscar and Jacquette’s star-crossed love.
Isn’t history a tangled web?
|
|
| There’s a 1954 movie about this (“with all the flesh and fire of the book”), and it’s more than a little bit funny. Marlon Brando even plays Napoleon—watch the trailer HERE. |
|
