Désirée Clary Bernadotte (Queen Desideria of Sweden)

Désirée

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Désirée (the person)

Crown Princess Desideria (Désirée), by Robert Lefèvre, 1810

Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary was a real person, and the novel Désirée by Annemarie Selinko is based on actual events in her life. Although the book varies from known facts in several places, and obviously much of it is the author's invention, Désirée really was engaged to Napoleon Bonaparte, married to Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and crowned Queen Desideria of Sweden.

On this site I have collected and created links to information about Désirée, her family, her contemporaries, and events in her life. Please look around, learn, and enjoy. If you are doing research on Désirée's life, I encourage you to investigate as many sources and books as you can find. Do not rely on any one source (even this site), and above all, do not assume everything in the novel is true!

Désirée Clary
- Images and Portraits
- Biographical Information
  - Désirée und Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (in German)
  - Histoire et Figurines: Désirée Clary
  - Wikipedia - Désirée Clary
  - A Bit of Swedish History: Desideria (Désirée Clary)
  - Désirée 1777-1860 (in Swedish)
  - Désirée Clary (in Swedish)
  - Drottningar och andra kvinnor (in Swedish)
  - Svenkst biografiskt handlexikon: Desideria (in Swedish)
  - Nordisk familjebok: Desideria (in Swedish)
  - Napoleonic Guide: Desiree Clary
  - Find-a-Grave: Desiree Clary "Desideria" Bernadotte
  - Jewels
    - The crown of Queen Louisa Ulrika, 1751 (crown of the Swedish Queen); Royal Armory, Stockholm
    - Coronation Gown of Queen Desideria, 1829; Royal Armory, Stockholm
    - Coronation of Queen Desideria, 21 August 1829, by Fredrik Westin; Royal Palace, Stockholm
    - Queen Désirée's Ruby Tiara (inherited by Queen Ingrid of Denmark, it now belongs to Princess Mary of Denmark)
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Swedish Royal Family & History
- Ätten Bernadotte (in Swedish)
- Familjen Bernadotte (in Swedish)
- Oscar I
- Oscar I (in Norwegian)
- Svenska drottningar (coats of arms of Swedish queens (in Swedish)
- Swedish Royalty
- Royal House of Sweden - Message Board
- Genealogical Information
  - Clary, Desiree Eugenie Bernardine (in Swedish)
  - The Bernadotte Dynasty (from the Swedish Royal Court official website)
  - Bernadotte Genealogy
- Currently-Reigning Descendents of Désirée:
Clary Family
- Julie Clary Bonaparte
  - Julie Bonaparte, Queen of Spain, with her Daughters Zénaïde and Charlotte - portrait by Gérard
  - Julie Clary (in French)
- François Clary - Mme. Clary
- Etienne Clary - Suzanne Clary
  - General Marius Clary
  - Marcelline Clary Tascher
- Uncle Somis
Bonaparte Family
- The B(u)onaparte Family
- Madame Mère - Letizia Bonaparte
  - Marie-Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte (Madame Mère, portait by Gérard)
  - Lætitia Ramolino Bonaparte (in French)
- Joseph Bonaparte
  - Joseph Bonaparte (in French) - Julie Clary Bonaparte
  - Napoleon's Older Brother
    - Zenaïde Charlotte Bonaparte
    - Charlotte Napoleone Bonaparte
- Napoleon Bonaparte
  - Napoleon's Photo Album
  - Images of Napoleon
  - Joséphine de Beauharnais
    - Joséphine de Beauharnais
    - Joséphine
  - Marie Louise
- Lucien Bonaparte
- Elisa Bonaparte
  - Marie-Anne (Elisa) Bonaparte (in French) - Felix Bacciochi
  - Elisa Bonaparte, et sa fille Napoleone-Elisa (portrait)
- Louis Bonaparte
  - Louis Bonaparte
  - Hortense de Beauharnais
    - Hortense de Beauharnais, by Gérard
    - Queen Hortense's Sapphire Tiara
      - Napoleon Louis
      - Charles Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III)
- Pauline Bonaparte
  - Marie-Pauline (Paulette) Bonaparte (in French)
  - Marie-Pauline Bonaparte, Princesse Pauline Borghese, by Lefevre
- Marie-Annonciade (Caroline) Bonaparte - Joachim Murat
- Jérôme Bonaparte
- Eugène de Beauharnais
- Cardinal Joseph Fesch (in French)
Other people appearing in the novel (a few of these are fictional characters):
- Biographies - First Empire - Napoleon
- Napoleon's Marshals
  - Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier - Mme. Berthier
  - Marshal Andoche Junot (in French) - Laure Permon Junot
  - Marshal Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (in French)
  - Marshal André Masséna
  - Marshal Michel Ney - Mme. Ney
- General Duphot
- General Caulaincourt (in French)
- Tsar Alexander I
- Duc d'Enghien (in French)
- Marquis de Lafayette
- Paul Barras
- Talleyrand (in French)
- Joseph Fouché (in French)
- Hippolyte Charles
- Mme. DeStaël
- Mme. DeStaël (in French)
- Mlle. George (in French)
- Mme. Juliette Récamier
- Mme. Juliette Récamier (in French)
- Thérèse Tallien
- Beethoven - "Eroica" Symphony
- General Leclerc
- Colonel Lefabre - Mme. Lefabre
- Legrand
- Jean Victor Moreau (in French)
- Pope Pius VII
- Count Regnaud
- Claude-François Méneval, Napoleon's secretary
- Constant (Louis-Constant Wairy), Napoleon's Valet
- Memoirs of Napoleon, by Constant
- Dr. Corvisart
- Jean-Etienne Despréaux
- LeRoy
- Persson
- Marie
- Fernand
- Mme. LaFlotte
- Colonel Villatte
- Antonio Francesco Gaetano Saverio Pacini, Désirée's Singing Teacher
- Armand-Emmanuel Du Plessis, duc de Richelieu
- Swedish Court
  - Queen Hedwig Elizabet Charlotta
  - Queen Hedwig Elizabet Charlotta (portrait)
  - Queen Sofia Magdalena
  - Queen Sofia Magdalena (portrait)
  - Princess Sofia Albertina
  - Count Brahe
  - Colonel Wrede
  - Lieut. Baron Carl Otto Mörner (in Swedish)
  - Colonel Gustaf Fredrik Mörner (in Swedish)
  - Field Marshal Count Hans Henrik von Essen
  - Baron Friesendorff
  - Karl Axel Löwenhjelm (in Swedish)
  - Gustaf Wetterstedt
  - Count Rosen
  - Countess Carolina Lewenhaupt
  - Henrietta Mariana Charlotta Koskull
Places:
- Marseilles
  - Marseilles
  - Marseilles History - 18th-19th Centuries (in French)
- Paris
- Malmaison
  - Malmaison
  - Musée national du château de Malmaison (in French)
- Sceaux (in French)
- Mortefontaine (in French)
- Château de la Grange, Savigny Le Temple
- Pontecorvo (in Italian)
- Sweden
Events, etc.:
Miscellany:

Crown Prince Karl Johan and Crown Princess Désirée

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