The Empress EugéNie in England

‘Told with exceptional scholarship, wit and humanity; the book itself is a ravishingly beautiful object’ - World of Interiors   ‘Geraghty excels in uncovering the allusions that added up to a patriotic statement about French culture’s ability to absorb and refine diverse European precedents’ - Apollo   ‘Beautifully illustrated book reconstructs what the house, collections and mausoleum were like before 1920’ - Spectator   This absorbing book tells the story of Empress Eugénie (1826–1920), the wife of Napoleon III and the last Empress-Consort of France. Today she is remembered for her physical beauty, for her influence as a taste maker and for her glittering contribution to the second imperial court – but she outlived the Second Empire by half a century and lived in exile in England.   The Empress bought the Farnborough Hill estate in 1880, following a decade of personal tragedy: the collapse of the Second Empire (1852–70), the death of Napoleon III, and the loss of her only child. The