Napoleon's illegitimate sons: Charles Denuelle, called the infernal bastard, Count Léon (1806-1881), and Alexandre, Count Colonna-Walewski (1810-1868)

Napoleon's illegitimate sons: Charles Denuelle, called the infernal bastard, Count Léon (1806-1881), and Alexandre, Count Colonna-Walewski (1810-1868). Each left numerous descendants, but none of the offspring of Napoleon's illegitimate sons had the right to bear the surname Bonaparte, although Count Léon pressed the Emperor for it, which seriously vexed him and earned Léon an insulting nickname.

Napoleon could not acknowledge Charles Denuelle as his own, but he took care over his upbringing and his future, and even mentioned him in his will, leaving him a decent sum. Charles was Napoleon's first child, born while the latter was still married to Josephine. As the firstborn he was always proud of his origins, all the more so as he bore a rather striking portrait likeness to his father; he liked to flaunt the kinship and counted on it to help him in life. But for all his efforts to establish himself in France, the dark side of his character and his ill luck left him in penury.