Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon

Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon (Jean Christophe Louis Ferdinand Albéric Napoléon; born 11 July 1986) is, in the views of some Bonapartists, head of the former Imperial House of France and the heir of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Family background

Prince Jean-Christophe was born in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France. He is the son of Prince Charles Napoléon and his first wife Princess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of the late Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon, Duke of Castro, a claimant to headship of the former Royal House of the Two Sicilies. His parents divorced on 2 May 1989, two months before Jean-Christophe's 3rd birthday.

Jean-Christophe is the great-great-great-great-nephew of Emperor Napoleon I of France (who has no legitimate, direct descendants) through the emperor's younger brother, Jérôme, King of Westphalia. Through his mother he is a descendant of King Louis XV of France and through his great-grandmother, Princess Clémentine of Belgium he descends from Louis Philippe I, King of the French, who was the last king to rule France, although Emperor Napoleon III would serve as its last monarch to date.

Prince Napoléon

Jean-Christophe's grandfather, Louis, Prince Napoléon, died in 1997, stipulating in his will that he wished his 11-year-old grandson Jean-Christophe to succeed him as Head of the Imperial House of France rather than the boy's father, Charles, who had embraced republican principles and remarried without his father's authorization. Despite the dynastic dispute, Jean-Christophe's father has stated that "there will never be conflict" between him and his son over the imperial succession.

Education and career

Jean-Christophe studied at Lycée Saint Dominique, Neuilly-sur-Seine, from 2001 to 2004, obtaining a baccalauréat with honours in the sciences and mathematics. From 2004 to 2006 he studied economics and mathematics at the Institut Privé de Préparation aux Études Supérieures (IPESUP) in Paris. Jean-Christophe matriculated at the HEC School of Management in Paris, graduating with an MSc in management.

Jean-Christophe has worked and lived in New York City as an investment banking analyst for Morgan Stanley and in London as a private equity associate for Advent International. He is fluent in French, English and Spanish.

He is currently enrolled as a second year at Harvard Business School in the Class of 2017.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

• 11 July 1986 – 3 May 1997: His Imperial Highness Prince Jean-Christophe Napoléon
• 3 May 1997 – present: His Imperial Highness Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon

Honours

National dynastic honours

• House of Bonaparte: Sovereign of the Order of the Reunion
• House of Bonaparte: Sovereign of the Order of the Iron Crown

Foreign honours

• House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: Deputy President Bailiff Knight Grand Cross with Collar of Justice of the Two Sicilian Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George

Awards

•  United Kingdom:
  •  England:
    •  London: Freeman of the City of London

• "Members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 28 January 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2016. 
• "Grand Magistral Appointments to the Constantinian Order and Royal Order of Francis I - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 29 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016. 
• "City of London Banquet in Honour of HIH The Prince Napoleon - Wednesday 25 November 2015 - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". 30 September 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2016. 
• "Luxarazzi: Louis and Tessy Attend Ball for Prince Napoléon". Retrieved 1 June 2016. 

Ancestry