Napoleon's engagement ring for sale

[Hum]

Napoleon might be as famous for his love life as he is for his military successes.

Now the wedding ring the diminutive Emperor gave Empress Josephine is about to go under the hammer in Paris.

'Napoleon was a young general with not very much money so I think for him at the time this was a significant piece of jewelry,' said Jean-Christophe Chataignier of the Osenat auction house.

'It's true that afterwards Napoleon and Josephine made their fortune, but I think she always kept this ring safe - because it was subsequently handed down to her grandson.'

A widow with two children, Josephine married Napoleon in 1796. She was crowned Empress of the French in 1804.

The ring is on display alongside other historic treasures, including portraits of Napoleon's son and a sword given to the Emperor by King Henry IV.

Despite infidelity, divorce, and his marriage to another woman, the Emperor's last words on his death bed were: 'France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Jos?phine.'

source

[Growled Member]

Josephine was his one true love, and apparently she still felt the same way to keep the ring and pass it down.