The Evening Statesman, Walla Walla, Washington, January 20, 1910

When the 16 year old Princess Clementine of Belgium and 26 year old Prince Victor Bonaparte met in 1888 she told her sister Stephanie “you can see me with my little air of conqueror…for it seems that my hair and I have had some success, particularly with Prince Victor Napoleon Bonaparte, of whom I’m a loyal admirer”. He had come to the Belgian palace to visit her parents. Clementine fought with her father over the issue of her marriage to Victor from that point on, but Leopold refused his permission again and again, believing that Victor, who was only a pretender to the throne, was not important enough to marry his daughter (among other reasons). After his death of December 17, 1909, rumors began to circulate that the long parted couple would finally tie the knot. On November 10, 1910, the 38 year old Clementine and the 48 year old Victor were married and eventually had two children.