Tag: 6 Degrees of Separation

Six Degrees of Separation, Butterfly Games Edition–Napoleon to Jacquette

Posted on September 24, 2025 by - Newsletter, Swedish Royals

Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte

What do Napoleon Bonaparte and a Swedish countess named Jacquette have in common?

More than you’d think! Here’s the whirlwind version:
Collage of portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte, Desiree Clary, Josephine de Beauharnais, Oscar I of Sweden and Jacquette Gyldenstolpe

1

As a young army officer, Napoleon proposed marriage to Désirée Clary, the daughter of a silk merchant from Marseilles.

2

Napoleon dumped Désirée for Joséphine.

3

Heartbroken, Désirée married one of Napoleon’s generals, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.

4

Out of complete left field, Sweden elected Bernadotte crown prince, making Désirée royalty.

5

Their son, Oscar, now a prince, left his home in Paris and moved to Sweden…

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.