An 84-year old woman, picking up the pen for the first time, claims that she has uncovered the answer to the question that has been on every Napoleonic historian's lips: did the Empress Eugénie have an illegitimate child? The answer, it would appear, is a resounding “yes”! And what's more, the child lived in Lancaster! Inspired by Uncle Bob's chance remark as to the possibility of Spanish family ancestory, caravanning enthusiast Joyce Cartlidge, of Newark in Nottinghamshire, has spent half her life piecing together the story of an unwanted child, whisked away from her teenage-mother to avoid any scandal. With startling, extraordinary (and, dare we say, completely preposterous) revelations about the empress, including the fact that she and Joyce were born a hundred years apart, almost to the hour! and the incredible resemblance between Eugénie's descendants and the family of Derek Cartlidge, Joyce's husband, Empress Eugénie: her secret revealed is bound to cause ripples in the waters of Napoleonic history. Eschewing traditional existing evidence, Joyce has instead constructed a fascinating story based on family anecdotes, and, in the author's own words a “…very large number of coincidences involved…” and “the unwitting testimony of missing records”.
Described by the Mail on Sunday as ‘an extraordinary odyssey into family history', Empress Eugénie: Her Secret Revealed is published by Magnum Opus Press.