Marie-Annonciade, a.k.a. Caroline Bonaparte

Grand Duchess of Berg and Cleves, Queen of Naples

Caroline Bonaparte was born on March 25, 1782 in Ajaccio , Corsica, in the family home on rue Malerba .

She married Joachim Murat in 1800, after refusing all offers from her reluctant brother.

A tireless beggar, she successively obtained the title of Imperial Highness, then the Grand Duchy of Berg in 1806 and finally the Kingdom of Naples in 1808 (although she and her husband were hoping for Spain).

Contrary to his wife's expectations, Murat did not abandon the running of affairs to her. She consoled herself by multiplying her love affairs.

She did, however, know how to soften relations between the Emperor and her husband, the former irritated by the latter's mistakes, the latter resenting the frequent abuse he received.

In 1812, Caroline finally became regent of the kingdom, and carried out her duties effectively. But on her return from Russia, Murat reversed all the decisions taken in her absence.

The maneuvers Caroline and her husband had begun in 1813 with Austria to save their crown were about to bear fruit when Murat made the mistake of siding with Napoleon during the Hundred Days. He was shot in Calabria. As for Caroline, she had already retired to Trieste.

She lived out her final years under the name of Countess de Lipona, staying from 1830 in Florence ,Tuscany, Italy, in a private mansion  on Via Romana, with general Francesco Macdonald (no relation to the Duke of Taranto, Étienne Macdonald), whom she had married in secret, and then in Piazza Ognissanti . It was here that she died on May 18, 1839, and was buried  in a private chapel in the Ognissanti church .