Juliette Récamier lived during very tumultuous period and knew many monarchs. She knew Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, dined at the table of Napoléon I and even knew the future Napoleon II as a child and adolescent.

Louis XVI
Last king before the Revolution in 1789. Married to Marie Antoinette, he was guillotined with his wife for high treason in 1792.

Napoléon 1er
First consul since 1799, consul for life from 1802 onwards, he became French emperor by constitution on 18th May 1804, approved overwhelmingly on 6th November. Crowned at Notre-Dame-de-Paris on 2nd December. Ousted by the senate on 3rd April 1814, he abdicated unconditionally on 6th April. Returned to the Tuileries on 20th March 1815, shortly after the flight of Louis XVIII. Beaten at Waterloo on 18th June, he abdicated again on 22nd June in favour of his son, Napoléon II, but his position was never officialised and his ‘reign’ remained entirely symbolic.

Napoléon II
After the abdication of his father Napoléon I in April 1814 and June 1815, he is named ‘reigning’ emperor under the name of Napoléon II from 4th – 6th April 1814 and from 22nd June – 7th July 1815.

Louis XVIII
Self-proclaimed king after the death of his nephew Louis XVII on 8th June 1795, he only effectively gained the title proper on 6th April 1814 after Napoleon abdicated. Fled Paris during the night of 20th March 1815. Brought back to be part of the provisional government on 22nd June after Napoleon’s second abdication, he returned to Paris on 8th July.

Charles X
Became the king of France after the death of his brother Louis XVIII on 16th Septeber 1824. Crowned 29th May 1825 in Reims. Forced to abdicate on 2nd August 1830 after the July Revolution. His son, Louis XIX, who himself abdicated less than an hour later, and his grandson, Henri V, were neither crowned nor recognised.

Louis Philippe
Descendant of Louis XIII. After the July Revolution in 1830, he was proclaimed the French king on 9th August. Incapable of containing the Revolution which erupted in 1848, he abdicated on 24th February in favour of his grandson Philippe d’Orléans, whom the Assemblée refused to recognise, proclaiming the Second Republic.

Napoleon III
Nephew of Napoléon I. Elected president of the Second Republic in 1848, he led the coup d’État of 2nd December 1851 that was to lead to the establishment of the Second Empire on 2nd December 1852, making him French emperor. Beaten at Sedan, he was taken prisoner on 2nd September 1870. The Third Republic was declared two days later.