Death of the Prince Imperial

One of the strangest stories from the 1879 Anglo Zulu War is the death of the Prince Inperial Louis Napoleon . After his father Napoleon 111 was dethroned in1870 he moved with his family to England When his father died in 1873 Louis was he was declared Napoleon IV . Wanting to be recognised for his military skills he with the help of his mother Empress Eugenie and his God Mother Queen Victoria he managed to get sent to join the British Forces in the Zulu Land for the second Invaasion , being headstrong and reckless he was almost killed on one patrol when on 1st June 1879 on apatrol led by Captain Jaheel Carey they were ambushed and in the attempt to escape Napoleon was killed in hand to hand combat with a group of Zulus . Many books give the full account my favourite is " with his face to the Foe " by Ian Knight but many others cover the episode . I was lucky enough to visit the monument to Louis and the graves of those who died with him { Louis was brought back for buriel in England }.

I have built the benito 54mm Diorama representing Napoleons last moments below are some in progress pictures and the finished diorama

This fascinating piece of history has been the subject of many books ,two in my collection are the Ian Knight book I mentioned earlier and Captain Careys blunder by Donald Featherstone a nice read but very dated with lots of mistakes .