Charles de Beauvau, Prince of Beauvau (1793–1864)

Early life and family background

Charles was born on 7 March 1793 in exile in England at Sunninghill, Berkshire, where his parents had taken refuge from the French Revolution. His father was Marc Étienne de Beauvau, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and his mother was Nathalie de Rochechouart. The Beauvau family belonged to the ancien régime nobility with longstanding lands and titles in Lorraine. Following the end of revolutionary exile the family returned to France, where Charles was raised within the social and political networks of restored aristocracy.

Military service

Entering the French army in 1810, Charles de Beauvau served during the later phases of the Napoleonic era. He became an officer in the carabiniers and took part in campaigns that culminated in the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. His early military experience reflected the turbulent choices facing émigré and noble families: to serve under the imperial regime, to withdraw from public life, or to seek accommodation with changing governments. For contemporary accounts of the wider conflicts he participated in see general histories of the Napoleonic Wars.

Political career and public roles

In the middle decades of the 19th century Charles de Beauvau became active in public life under the regime of Napoleon III. Identified with the Bonapartist party that sought to restore the Bonaparte family to prominence, he was appointed to the Senate and also held regional office as a Councillor-General for the department of Meurthe, to which he was elected in 1854. His political positions placed him among the conservative, pro-imperial aristocrats who supported the Second Empire's blending of authoritarian rule and social hierarchy.

Titles, succession and family life

On the death of his father in 1849 Charles succeeded to the family's princely honors derived from the Holy Roman Empire; contemporary notices record his succession to those titles and to the headship of the house. Although legally entitled as Prince of Craon, he was popularly known as the Prince of Beauvau. He married twice and fathered four children, one of whom succeeded him as the next Prince of Beauvau. More on the family's dynastic claims and the formal succession appears in genealogical treatments of the French peerage and noble houses; for a reference to the succession see succession to princely titles.

Legacy and historical notes

Charles de Beauvau's life illustrates the adaptability of many French noble families across revolutionary and imperial regimes. He combined service as an officer during the Napoleonic campaigns with later roles in the political system of the Second Empire, maintaining his family's status while participating in modern state institutions. His birth in exile at Sunninghill is sometimes noted when discussing émigré communities in Britain; see local histories of Sunninghill, Berkshire for context. The House of Beauvau continued to figure among French aristocratic circles after his death in 1864, remembered both for its historical territorial roots and for members who engaged in military and civil service.

• Born: 7 March 1793, Sunninghill (exile)
• Military service: entered 1810; officer of carabiniers, 1812 campaign
• Political office: Senator under Napoleon III; Councillor-General of Meurthe (elected 1854)
• Titles: succeeded to princely honors in 1849; commonly styled Prince of Beauvau