A week after the birth of the child of Emperor Napoleon II and Empress Elisabeth, news spread across the major cities of the Empire. Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Antwerp, Brussels, Holland, Amsterdam—telegraph lines carried the announcement.
Couriers followed where wires had not yet reached, sealed letters bearing the imperial crest pressed into red wax.
By morning, broadsheets were being printed in batches.
A Princess Is Born at Versailles.
Her Imperial Highness Elsa Bonaparte.
Mother and Child in Good Health.
In Paris, church bells rang at noon.
At Notre-Dame, clergy gathered at the front steps while citizens filled the square. Some came out of curiosity. Others out of habit. Shopkeepers stepped outside their doors. Workers removed caps briefly as the bells sounded across the districts.
