Son of Napoleon III. Born Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte in the Palace of the Tuileries, Paris. He fought in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 - 71 with his father, and was then sent to England. On his father's death, he was proclaimed Napoleon the Fourth.
At the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu war in 1870 he persuaded the British army to allow him to take part. He was in an 8-man forward party that was attacked by a group of Zulus. He and 3 others were killed. In 's detailed description of the circumstances of his death it seems that he was overly keen to see action and determined to prove himself as a military leader.
His body was brought back to Britain where his funeral was attended by Queen Victoria. He was initially buried in Chislehurst alongside his father but in 1888, their bodies was transferred to a mausoleum constructed by his mother at St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough. His death effectively ended any hope of the restoration of the Napoleon dynasty.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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